Professor Pradeep Nair (He/Him)

Professor in New Media & Director Research, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India
  • India

About Professor Pradeep Nair

Pradeep Nair is Professor of New Media in the Department of New Media and Director Research of the University. He worked as Dean of the School of Journalism, Mass Communication and New Media from 2015-2022; and Head of New Media from 2012-2022. His research and teaching is in the fields of critical communication theories, new media in shaping public opinion and behaviour in the context of state-society nexus, exploring the relationship between local media and climate change, understanding the impact of climate change on local ecologies and health communication and governance.

Prof. Nair is affiliated to the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), a Swiss based International Panel and global science organization committed to providing actionable scientific knowledge about threats to the world’s information environment officially launched at the Noble Prize Summit 2023 – Truth, Trust and Hope, May 24-26 in Washington D.C. He is also an affiliate to the Water Resource Working Group of World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Safe Landing Climates Lighthouse Activity. This working group addresses uncertainties in the long-term redistribution of water in land-based natural systems or reservoirs, their resilience and vulnerabilities, and impacts of changes to these systems.

 

He is a member of the Planning Committee of National Adaptation Forum, Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carleton College, founded to improve education in the Earth sciences and beyond. 

His engagement is in exploring the expanded role of communication outreach in increasing the ability of local communities to engage them in advocacy and policy issues related to climate resilience and maintaining the local biodiversity. His case study on Creating Resilience among Rural Communities: Communication Outreach and Climate Change is published by Climate Adaptation and Knowledge Exchange (CAKE). He is presently an External Reviewer in selecting research proposals for funding for Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) Capacity Development Committee under the Scientific Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE).

He has published widely in the field of communication and media studies, health communication and governance including role of media in developing people’s perception about climate change by using their considerable public trust to build acceptance through small narratives (Journal of Development Communication, 2022), policy and response strategies adopted to deal with restricted physical access to socio-economic infrastructure, facilities and services amid the Covid pandemic with a focus on cutting-edge health technologies at its core (Frontiers in Digital Health, 2022); exploring the potential benefits of media exposure on wellbeing within the disciplinary boundaries of media psychology, while looking at the Indian and Tibetan understanding of the wellbeing construct (Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2021), Framing of community dynamics by small town journalists in Dharamshala, India (Newspaper Research Journal, 2020), Journalism Education in Post-Truth Era (Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 2019), Identity Crisis versus Ethical Dilemmas of Small Town Journalism (Journalism Education, 2018), Contextualizing Fake News in Post-truth Era (Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2017).

He is in the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine published by the University of Rzeszow, Poland.  He is the Senior Editor in the Editorial Board of Centre for Agriculture and Bio-science International (CABI) One Health Resources, Associate Editor of Connected Health a speciality section of Frontiers in Digital Health. He has edited a research section on Health Technologies and Innovations to effectively respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic and a Research Topic Collection – Highlights in Connected Health 2021/22 for Frontiers. He had served two consecutive terms in the Editorial Board of the journals - Asia Pacific Media Educator (SAGE & University of Wollongong, Australia) and Pedagogy in Health Promotion (SOPHE & SAGE).  He has been awarded Top Peer Reviewer in Social Sciences by Web of Science and Clarivate Analytics in 2019 and is currently reviewing for British Medical Journal, WHO Health Bulletin, European Policy Review, Health and Technology, Pedagogy in Health Promotion, Communication Inquiry, Asian Ethnicity, Journalism Studies, Journalism Practice and Frontiers in Public Health. His recent work concerns macro and micro ecological interventions related to environmental stability, climate resilience and maintaining the local biodiversity through mediated narratives.

Stakeholder Group

Academia Government Media OECD

Recent Conversations

Recent Comments

 

I believe that there is a need for a larger connection in peoples’ minds and to share the voices and concerns of the marginalized, most vulnerable people who have contributed least to the problem but are suffering most from its impact. The challenge of climate change media reporting is two-fold: first, to present information valid in scientific scrutiny and second, it has to understand how and in what ways vulnerable communities adapt to the impacts of climate changes.

Information is mostly shaped by the community power dynamics and its influence. It is a time for information agencies to come forward to validate and scrutinize information received from different sources. The development of a shared bank of resources on climate change will help the people to develop their capacity to access the right information at the right time.

 

The post-pandemic challenges in terms of economic shock and resource scarcity has put an extra stress on public health resources especially in middle- and low-income countries to recognize the interconnections among the various health sectors and their shared concerns. Unfortunately, even though the Covid pandemic is now almost over, a disconnect remains between people, care and policies and restoring the health security and care for all is the matter of prime concern. Here, One Health approach can connect disciplines across the human-animal-environment interface to address the emerging post-Covid health issues through a coordinated, effective, efficient and sustainable care approach. Due to its multidisciplinary collaboration and approach, one health has the potential to capitalize the capacities of multi-sectoral healthcare systems through regular information sharing among the stakeholders. The research, interventions and collaborations having a multi-disciplinary approach (human medicine, veterinary, ecology, environment, agriculture, and social sciences) can include wider range of expertise to strengthen health informatics which can help developing economies to take further steps towards health systems resilience.

The financing and administration of healthcare systems through the integration of several agencies managed by different ministries across regional and national governmental set-ups and the establishment of the National Institute for One Health is a tipping point to make the healthcare services more inclusive and accessible in India.  The Indian governments’ understanding of one health and its manifestation in an economically focused, socially adept and ecologically sustainable health policy approach and responsive strategies are capable in not only transforming the Indian health care sector in terms of diagnosis, disease management, treatment and prevention but also to prepare them for future emergencies. But this further requires a comprehensive policy and response approach to institutionalize the practice of one health through community-based outreach activities and also to make it an essential part of many community-based health schemes. This will ensure an active engagement of individuals, communities, the private sector and the society as a whole which can further help to shape the practice of one health on a wider scale.

Himachal Pradesh in India - a small hill state has a unique geo-morphological and ecological setting. The most reliable and sustainable source of fresh water in the region are mountain springs and water bodies. In recent time, the region has frequently witnessed a change in land use patterns and improper sanitation which has affected the available water sources and the regional biodiversity. There is a dire need to promote community resilience and sustainability for effective water management and climate solutions in the region.  This will help to identify the capacity of natural resource-dependent communities to adapt to change in order to maintain or enhance its ecological well-being.