The Harvard South Asia Institute (SAI) in collaboration with Tata Trusts
successfully concluded the 18-months project on ‘Livelihood Creation In India’
(http://southasiainstitute.harvard.edu/livelihood-creation-project/) in an
event hosted in New Delhi recently. The event showcased an overview of
‘Livelihood Creation in India’ that focuses on three key areas: Rural
Livelihood Creation in the handicrafts and handloom sectors; Educational,
Social and Economic Empowerment of Women; and Science and Technology-based
Social Entrepreneurship. The keynote address was given by Amitabh Kant, CEO,
NITI Aayog.
The project aimed at filling the capacity gaps through residential
workshops jointly conducted by Harvard Faculty and in-region experts. The
workshop on science and technology based social entrepreneurship was conducted
in collaboration with IIT Delhi and focused on diverse themes including
business perspectives to social entrepreneurship, perspectives from the
government, design for success and impact, perspectives from the industry, and
leveraging external resources. Over 25 social entrepreneurs from 14 states were
shortlisted for this workshop.
A vital part of this project was to stimulate interventions and scale up
existing initiatives that can lead to greater impact in select geographies.
Social innovation grants totalling INR 50 lakhs were given to 12 budding social
entrepreneurs and crafts enterprises in India to achieve this objective.
Delhi-based Smart Joules, a social enterprise that aims at eliminating
wasted energy in India, was one such grantee that received support and
mentorship as part of the project on Science and Technology based Social
Entrepreneurship. The organization deploys various energy efficient technologies
that reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings.
Dr. Shashank Shah, Visiting Scholar, Harvard Business School and Project
Director and Fellow Harvard University SAI, who led the project said, “It has
been an enriching experience to lead the project. Smart Joules has a vision and
commitment in working towards bringing more than 300 million Indians out of
energy poverty. Harvard SAI is happy to support them in their passion and
technology-based ideas to create a cleaner society.”
Professor Tarun Khanna, Director, Harvard University South Asia
Institute; Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School; and Chairman,
NITI Aayog Expert Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Government of
India, and Faculty Chair of this project, shared the project findings and
outcomes, at the event. Speaking on the occasion, he said, “The South Asian
Region is a laboratory for entrepreneurship, technological advancement and
cultural diversity. The Harvard SAI consistently makes efforts to use its
multi-disciplinary faculty expertise to contribute to India and the region with
research-based learning and interventions.”
“The core objective at Tata Trusts”, said Ganesh Neelam, Head, Technology
and Innovations, Tata Trusts; and Director, Collectives for Integrated
Livelihood Initiatives (CInI) & Foundation for Innovation and Social
Entrepreneurship (FISE) “is ‘making a sustainable difference in the quality of
life’ for communities we work with. Science and technology play a critical role
in resolving the challenges faced by them and the Trusts’ collaboration with
Harvard University SAI is a step towards identifying some of the best possible
technology solutions, to address barriers being faced in the areas of
livelihoods, healthcare and education to name a few. With the key focus being
scalable social impact, this programme brings together multi-sectoral strengths
to create a platform for capacity elevation and innovation across the country.
“Tata Trusts have historically supported visionary individuals and
organizations with the passion to promote India's rich crafts and their
potential for creating dignified livelihoods for our artisans. This
collaborative effort with Harvard University SAI is an effort to build an
engaging network of organizations that share a common purpose to rejuvenate
India’s crafts and its practicing artisan communities with the intent to
deliver catalytic economic and social impact. Social entrepreneurs, non-profit
organizations and artisan collectives came together under this unique program
to learn from each other, get mentoring, pitch innovative ideas and receive
seed funding to fund a passion project. The intent was to create an enriching
experience for key players in the sector to help deliver resilient and
sustained impact in artisan communities they work with” said Reshma Anand, Head
Partnerships, Strategy and Crafts, Tata Trusts.
Later, two panel discussions followed. The first one was on Rural
Livelihood Creation in the Indian Crafts Sector, anchored by Dr. Vandana
Bhandari, Former Dean and Professor National Institute of Fashion Technology,
Delhi. The second on ‘Science and Technology Based Social Entrepreneurship’ was
anchored by Professor Tarun Khanna.
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