Dr. Sapna Arora Narula, B.Sc, M.Sc ,M.B.A, Ph.D
Director
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Telephone No.: 0141-2795124 (O) / (M) 9910255027

Prof Sapna A Narula is a distinguished academician in sustainability and has made immense contribution to the discipline of sustainability through teaching, new programme development, research and consultancy efforts extending over two and a half decades. She teaches a variety of subjects such as agricultural marketing, food value chains, sustainability management, sustainability reporting & finance, corporate social responsibility, sustainable business strategy and business, ecosystems and community, climate change and development. She has been corporate trainer for a number of management development programmes in the industry.

She has been the founder Dean of School of Management studies at Nalanda University, an Institution of National Importance under Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India) where she was instrumental in attracting students from over 16 countries i.e. BIMSTEC and SAARC nations and faculty from over seven countries. Her leadership role extends to providing leadership as Head of Deptt. of Business and Sustainability at The Energy and Resources Institute; Head, Centre for Management Development at College of Agribusiness Management, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pant Nagar and representing various committees at the University level

Her current research interests include exploring ESG, CSR and Sustainability issues in Indian corporate landscape with a focus particularly on oil and gas, hotel, textile, mining and agribusiness and investigating the impact of climate change on agricultural supply chains and experimenting with strategies to reduce impact at the community level through technological, market and social interventions. She has consulted with various leading Indian and multinational companies on the areas such as Net zero strategy, LCA. GHG management, waste management and circular economy and CSR implementation. Her action research has transformed lives of farmers and other underprivileged communities through sustainable business models involving capacity building, skill development and livelihood development. Her research has won many accolades including Prosper.Net Scopus Young Scientist Award for Sustainable Development, 2011 delivered jointly by German Ministry, United Nations University & Elsevier and a Young Scientist Award (2009) from Uttarakhand Council for Science and Technology, Government of Uttarakhand and Outstanding Paper Award in 2021. Prof Narula has guided 10 PhD students and published around 60 research papers in reputed journals.  Her research has been published by leading international journals of sustainability. Climate & Development, Journal of Cleaner Production, Business Strategy and Environment, Journal of sustainable Mining, Business Strategy and Development, CSR and Environmental Management, Small-scale forestry, Social Responsibility Journal and Environment, Development and Sustainability among many others. She has also authored a book on Sustainable Food Value Chains in Developing and Emerging Economies published by springer (2023). Her research has also contributed to various national programmes such as the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, State Action Plans for Climate Change and also National Agricultural Higher Education Project. Based on her immense contribution in CSR and sustainability sector, she has been awarded as India Responsible Leadership Award 2023.Prof. Narula is also the President and member of board of directors for Global Network for Sustainable Development, Arizona, US and Connecting Dreams Foundation, New Delhi, both in honorary capacity. She is well-engaged with industry for the purpose of knowledge-exchange, consultancy, MDP and other initiatives

Awards and Scholarships

•  India Responsible Leader Award 2023 for remarkable contribution in the field of Sustainability and CSR.
• Outstanding Paper Award (Emerald Literati Award 2021), Consumer Buying Behavior and Purchase Intention of Organic food: A conceptual Framework (Management of Environment Quality) Emerald Publishers.
•  Vice-Chancellors Award for Best Research Publication (2017), TERI School of Advanced Studies.
• Prosper.Net Scopus Young Scientist Award (ICTs and Sustainable Development)organized by United Nations University, German Federal Ministry of Education, and Elsevier Publications (2011) (Runner-up)
• Young Scientist Award, Uttarakhand Council of Science & Technology, Govt. of Uttarakhand (2009) (under the discipline Science and Society including science popularization for Work on Empowering Farmers through ICT-enabled Supply Chains in Uttarakhand)
• Scholarship for participation in Panel Discussion on e-Agriculture: Policies and Practices Organized by FAO, Rome and UNESCO Chair in ICT for Development, Royal Holloway, University of London at ICTD2010 at London, 16-19 December 2010.
• University Topper in Master’s degree M.Sc. (Gold Medalist) (1996), Best Student Award in Miranda House, University of Delhi (1994).
• Qualified JRF-NET (National Eligibility Test) conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi (1996)

International Teaching and Research Exposure

• Visiting Academic, Department of Management, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus (2018)
• Currently supervising Masters’ & Ph.D. students from Deakin University, Australia; Leipzig University, Germany & University of Graz, Austria Worked on collaborative projects funded by international agencies FAO, IFAD, EPSRC- DFID, Deakin University.
• Invited to deliver talks at the Universities in India and abroad some of which include Royal Holloway, University of London, University of Phillipines, Utrecht University, Deakin University, Australia, RMIT Australia, IITs, University of Delhi and other major Universities in India.
• Research collaborations extending to prestigious Universities some of which include Deakin University, Utrecht University, Western Sydney University, RMIT, Melbourne, UNSW, Syracuse University, New York, University of Graz, Friere University, Berlin, De Montfort University, UK, Leipzig University, Germany to name a few

Research & Consultancy (Selected)

• Scoping Study on Fruits & Vegetables: Results from India; An assessment of investment opportunities for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ( in collaboration with Wageninen University) Funding Agency: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2021)
• Sustainable Eco-restoration and Integrated Livelihood Development in Open Caste Coal Mines- Funding Agency: Ministry of Coal (2015 -2018) The project with an outlay of INR 2.5 crore was about eco-restoration and sustainable livelihood development of Open Caste Coa Mines in Muriadih area of Jharia coal mines. The project was implemented with Bharat Coking Coal Ltd at one of their mining sites. Around 500 women and men were trained in skills such as poultry, fisheries, mushroom cultivation, computers, goatery with many success stories
• Sustainability Strategies of Indian Hotel Industry (2013)- Funding Agency: Deakin University, Australia
• Sustainability Awareness Programme & Quiz at Mahindra & Mahindra Funding Agency: MUSCO Mahindra Ugine Steel Co Ltd. (2012).
• Designing Climate Change Adaptation Responses for IFAD’s Project in Jharkhand Funding Agency: International Fund for Agricultural Development (2011).
• Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Strategies for Maharashtra State. (2010-11) Funding Agency: Dept. of Environment, Maharashtra State, India Decentralized off-grid electricity generation in developing countries: Business Models for 
• Off-grid Electricity Supply in Developing Countries (2009-2014) Funding Agency: EPSRC& DFID, UK 
• Revisiting National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (2010) Funding Agency: Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India

Published Book

• Book (Edited Volume by Sapna A. Narula & S P Raj, 2023) : Sustainable Food Value Chains: Perspective from Developing & Emerging Economies https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Sapna-Narula/dp/981196453X

Publications (Selected five)

1. Agasty, S., Tarannum, F., & Narula, S. A. (2023). Sustainability innovation index for micro, small and medium enterprises and their support ecosystems based on an empirical study in India. Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier. IF 11.07. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137793
2. Magry, M. A., Cahill, D., Rookes, J., & Narula, S. A. (2022). Climate change impacts on non-timber forest products: NTFP-dependent community responses from India. Climate and Development, Taylor & Francis Online. IF 4.8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2022.2152639
3. Narula, S. A., Magray, M.A., Mathur, A. (2019). Business –Community Engagement: A Case of Mining Company in India. Business Strategy and Development, Wiley Online. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.64
4. Poddar, A. , Narula, S. A. & Zutshi, A. (2019 ). A Study of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of the top BSE 500 Companies in India and their alignment with Sustainable Development Goals. CSR and Environmental Management, Wiley Online. IF: 8.464. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1741
5. Narula, S.A. and Bhattacharyya, S., 2017. Off-grid Electricity Interventions for Cleaner Livelihoods: A Case study of Value Chain Development in Dhenkanal District of Odisha. Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier. IF: 11.072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.176

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=R4ZZbuUAAAAJ