UNESCO-linked sustainability coalition will open its first South Asia office at Gujarat's GIFT City

Hosted by the Indian non-profit TryfactaEDU Global Foundation, this is the latest sign the GIFT City finance hub is expanding beyond banking

GIFT City, a Greenfield Smart City in Gujarat was designed to be a global financial and tech hub has been home for banks, fund houses, insurers and ancillary services offering cross-border financial products and services within a competitive tax environment. Lately, it has also been drawing non-finance institutions, like foreign universities setting up a physical campuses in India. This UNESCO-linked research office is the newest example of that shift.

TryfactaEDU Global Foundation has been selected to host the South Asia Regional Programme Office of the BRIDGES Coalition here. The office is expected to start operating between July and September 2026, with full programme implementation beginning in October 2026, after the coalition's governing council approved the resolution on 26 June.

UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES is a global sustainability-science coalition run within UNESCO's Management of Social Transformations programme. They have existing hubs in US, UK, Europe and South Africa. The GIFT city hub will be its first in South Asia.

TryfactaEDU Global Foundation is the non-profit arm of the educational division, TryfactaEDU, that falls under the global technology and staffing firm, Tryfacta Inc. TryfactaEDU offers higher education solutions and operates the Global Foundation for underserved through digital learning. Its board is chaired on an interim basis by John Crowley, a former senior UNESCO official, involved in setting up BRIDGES in 2019.

Speaking on the development, Dr. John Crowley, Interim Chair of the Foundation Board of Directors, TryfactaEDU Global Foundation said, "The launch of the Office for South Asia marks an important milestone in strengthening regional collaboration and advancing humanities driven sustainability science. We are honoured to host this initiative in India and support a platform that brings together academia, policymakers, civil society, and communities"

The Regional Programme Office is expected to foster knowledge exchange, support the onboarding of new regional member organisations and hubs, and promote the implementation of the UNESCO Guidelines for Sustainability Science in Research and Education across South Asia.