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On 19th February 2026, the Indian Association of Life Skills Education (IALSE), Chennai, in collaboration with the Centre for Life Skills, Loreto College, Kolkata conducted an online session on the theme, ‘Situating Life Skills Education in NEP 2020 for Transformative Learning’ as part of the NEP Lectures Series. The esteemed resource person for the lecture was Dr. C. S. Shaijumon, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, who delivered an informative and insightful presentation on “Interdisciplinary Economics under NEP 2020: Insights from Space Economics and Neuroeconomics”. The students of the Department of B.Ed. senester-4 and students of the Department of Economics along with faculty members from Loreto College actively participated in the lecture series. The Executive members of IALSE were also present for the lecture.
The session commenced with a Welcome Address by Sr. Dr. A. Nirmala, Teacher-in-charge, Loreto College, Kolkata, who greeted everyone with warmth and vigour and set the tone for the lecture. Following that was the Presidential Address by Dr. A. Radhakrishnan Nair, President, Indian Association of Life Skills Education, who lay the groundwork by introducing the theme for the session.
Taking over from him in a smooth transition, Dr. C. S. Shaijumon, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology delivered the Keynote Address of the session. Dr. Shaijumon’s discourse commenced with a brief overview of the vision of the NEP 2020 to break disciplinary boundaries. He proceeded to provide a comprehensive view of the interdisciplinary framework of Economics as a discipline and highlighted the emergence of fields like Space Economics and Neuroeconomics to illustrate this.
Thereafter, the floor was opened to the audience whose insightful and thought-provoking questions concluded the session on a successful note.
With the emergence of the fifth Industrial Revolution (Industry 5.0), there is a high demand for professionals who can integrate technology with social responsibility. The NEP 2020 aims to align India’s education system with these requirements to facilitate a successful collaboration between humans and machines. In this regard, Economics, as a discipline, acts as a bridge between technology and society.
The complex world that we live in today requires a multidisciplinary approach to solve its complex challenges. Herein comes the need for a diverse expertise and interdisciplinary knowledge. Economics, in today’s day and age, deals with much more than just markets and prices. Its reach has extended as far as the human brain as well as outer space. In light of this, Space Economics and Neuroeconomics have emerged as important fields of interdisciplinary study.
Space Economics integrates key principles from Economics, Science and Technology to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the space sector. It focuses on the economic aspects of space exploration, utilization and commercialization, by examining the allocation of resources, costs, benefits and value of activities in the sector. These activities include space product design and manufacturing, construction of infrastructure, improvement of satellite technology for space operations and more. The development of this sector ultimately results in the saving of budgetary resources of the country with maximum achievement of objectives through the optimal utilisation of all available resources.
Neuroeconomics, on the other hand, combines neuroscience, psychology, economics and mathematics to study how people make decisions. The interaction between neurons, through electrical and chemical signals, forms the basis of all human thoughts, emotions and behaviours. This, ultimately, determines every single choice, decision and action of human beings along with the rationale behind it.
By combining insights from these fields and leveraging tools like Artificial Intelligence and data analytics, the decision-making abilities of humans can be enhanced, the resources can be optimally allocated and utilized and sustainable innovation and development can be fostered across all industries. The future of our world lies in multidisciplinary, collaborative, data-driven and human-centred approaches to solutions.
All in all, it was an extremely comprehensive, informative and riveting presentation that provided clarity and insight to the captivated audience in attendance.
