Expert Talk on Smart Villages and Disaster-Resilient Construction Held at the University of Peradeniya

The Civil Engineering Society (CES) organized a talk titled “Smart Villages and Their Significance in Disaster-Resilient Construction for Climate-Positive Development” on 29 December 2025, from 12.00 noon to 1.00 pm, at the Senate Room, University of Peradeniya.

The guest speaker was Dr. Hemanta Doloi, Associate Professor in Construction Management and Project Director of the Smart Villages Project at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Australia. He also serves as the Director of the Smart Villages Lab (SVL), which focuses on data-driven research addressing critical needs in sustainable rural construction and development under the Smart Villages Programme. Additionally, Dr. Doloi serves as the founding Chair of the International Conference on Smart Villages and Rural Development (COSVARD), the founding Convener of the Global Seminar Series on Smart Villages (GSSV), and the Mission Advocate of the Sustainable Planet Initiative (SPI).

The talk was successfully concluded with the participation of the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, and over 100 participants from the university.