The Indo–European Summer Academy 2025, held from 21st to 27th July, brought together 19 selected participants from India and Europe for an intensive week of dialogue on non-traditional security, with a focus on energy resilience and diplomacy. Organized by CESS in partnership with Hanns Seidel Stiftung, the Academy combined lectures, simulations, workshops, and field visits to blend academic depth with practical exposure. It marked the beginning of a sustained effort to foster youth-led collaboration between India and Europe on shared global challenges.
Day 1, Setting the Stage
The opening session carried a quiet gravitas. Experts from Chanakya University, CESS, and Hanns Seidel Stiftung welcomed participants with a call to think boldly. Dr. Peter Hefele (Policy Director, Martens Centre for European Studies) set the tone: “Energy is no longer just a commodity. It is strategy, diplomacy, and equity.” His twin sessions that day traced the imperatives of EU–India collaboration and Europe’s green transition, offering both a blueprint and a caution that energy must be just, affordable, and inclusive.
Day 2, Cosmos and Climate
The next morning returned to the global stage with Dr. Hefele’s reflections on climate security. Yet the real pivot came in the afternoon. Dr. Vinayachandra Banavathy (Director, Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, Chanakya University) led participants into a different realm, Indic cosmology and ethics. Energy, he reminded them, is not only a technical or economic issue, but also a moral relationship with the universe. His words reframed sustainability as stewardship, a theme that lingered long after the session closed.
Day 3, From Past to Policy
Dr. M. Sivakumar (Professor, School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Chanakya University) took the gathering on a journey from the Vedic view of energy to the quantum age. His talk connected physics with philosophy, showing how every civilization sought meaning in power and light. In the afternoon, the tone shifted from reflection to action. Dr. Chirayu Thakkar (Dean’s Fellow, National University of Singapore) ran a hands-on workshop on writing policy papers. Laptops clicked, debates sparked, and ideas sharpened into arguments. “Theory finds its purpose when it speaks to power,” one participant remarked.
Day 4, Risks and Reforms
Nuclear policy took center stage as Ruhee Neog (Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi) and Dr. Tanvi Kulkarni (Policy Fellow, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network) dissected the dilemmas of deterrence. The room crackled with debate: promise versus peril, stability versus risk. Later, Apurv Mishra (Consultant, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council) drew participants into the quieter world of governance and regulation, calling it the invisible scaffolding that holds the energy sector upright.
Day 5, The Field Speaks
The Academy stepped out of the classroom and into the sunlit fields of Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. Solar panels stretched across the landscape, and the participants saw theory turn to practice. The afternoon brought them back indoors for a hard security talk. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) C.A. Krishnan (Security and Strategy Expert, Former Deputy Chief of the Indian Army) reminded everyone that energy security is inseparable from mineral security. “Every panel, every battery has a strategic story,” he said.
Day 6, Balancing Fuels and Futures
The weekend opened with Dr. Vibha Dhawan (Director General, TERI) exploring biofuels and sustainable mobility. Her optimism was contagious: India could leapfrog challenges if it dared to innovate. In the afternoon, Dr. Manoj Gonuguntla (Team Lead, Shell Technology Centre, Bengaluru) cut through the debate with pragmatism. Fossil fuels would not vanish overnight, he argued. The challenge was to manage the transition responsibly, without sacrificing sustainability or security.
Day 7, Diplomacy and Destiny
The final day tied threads together. Prof. Chetan Singai (Dean, SoLGPP, Chanakya University) offered a governance perspective, grounding energy debates in law and regulation. Then, Ambassador (Retd.) Manjeev Singh Puri (Former Ambassador of India to the EU) lifted the conversation to the global stage, describing energy diplomacy as “a bridge of resilience built with trust.”
The closing address by Dr. S. Somanath (Chairman, ISRO and Chancellor, Chanakya University) was both poetic and practical. Linking India’s space journey to its energy quest, he left the room with a challenge: “Innovation must serve humanity, or it serves nothing at all.”
Momentum will hopefully build from this first edition of the Academy. A publication of participant-authored insights is expected to carry the conversations forward, offering reflections and recommendations shaped during the week. The idea of an expanded Summer Academy in 2026 is already on the table, with the hope of bringing in a wider pool of voices from India and Europe. To ensure continuity, an alumni network is envisaged as a space for sustained dialogue and collaboration. Over time, the Academy will also find its place within the India–Europe Resilience Forum, anchoring its impact in a larger, long-term framework.
