Held on the theme "Climate Innovation and Applied Learning," the interaction brought together 27 faculty members and experts from across Karnataka to explore approaches for strengthening climate innovation, applied learning, and mentorship for young innovators.

The program included an expert session on "Systems and Design Thinking" taken by Dr. Bindu Thirumalai, Adjunct Faculty, NIAS. She highlighted that people often come up with solutions as soon as a problem arises, without first empathising with the stakeholders or clearly defining the problem statement. The session emphasised the importance of understanding the problem from the stakeholders' perspective and using systems and design thinking approaches to arrive at more relevant and effective solutions.

The second expert session, "From Idea to Impact: Prototyping and Entrepreneurship for Climate Innovators," was conducted by Mr. Abrar Ahmed, Assistant Vice President – Incubation, Acceleration and Investments, Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre. The session focused on taking an idea from the initial concept to prototyping and eventually towards scale and impact, with examples of innovative ventures such as EcoKaari, which transforms waste into wearable art, and String Bio, which applies engineering biology towards food security. The session provided participants with insights into the importance of experimentation, prototyping, and developing viable pathways for climate innovations to move from ideas to scalable solutions.

The expert sessions were followed by a Round Table Discussion - CLICY Connect. The discussion provided an interactive platform for faculty members to share the green initiatives and sustainability-related activities being undertaken by their respective institutions. Participants also shared insights on potential areas of collaboration and discussed ways to strengthen youth participation in initiatives such as CLICY.