Sustaining Sattvik spirit: expanding collaborative, creative and collegial culture

 

SRISTI recently organised tenth sattvik traditional food festival, hosted innovation exhibition by NIF , and facilitated farmers’ haat for organic produce to connect  producers and consumers. Around fifty thousand people visited the Sattvik in three days  but the issue about sustaining such platforms remains open still.

 

How do we sustain platforms which create  public  goods without necessarily mobilising much revenue beyond paid out cost ( not full cost of staff time and logistical costs) is a challenge which many groups in similar circumstance face. May I thus suggest that the model  of Pay-as-you-wish be triggered according to  which everybody contributes annually a small or big amount and gets full accounts of how all the contributions were   used.

 

Unless national building platforms are sustained by society, one will either have to seek foreign funding which may or may not be forthcoming always or regularly, or appeal to stakeholders to contribute voluntarily. I think just as we take out first bread we cook for birds or other animals, we should develop a habit of contributing some amount to such causes every year or on every social or cultural occasion.

That way we will be able to sustain independent civil society voices untamed by markets or society and capable or pursuing an agenda for inclusive innovations and social development with complete transparency. A community of contributors and long term stakeholders should do social audit of such platforms and then mobilise their own social capital. Recently one of the major well-wishers made a contribution to sristi for the purpose so that agenda like study of life histories of centenarians or promotion of organic food does not stumble for want of minimal support.

 

I hope that in the new year, every reader will make a resolution to support one such organization which she/he believes contributes to the common good in a just, fair and transparent manner.

Let me list down some of the short and medium term  goals  which will engage Honey Bee Network in coming months.

 

Thirtieth Shodhyatra will take place in Manipur from Jan 12-17, 2013 and we will try to learn, share and contribute towards  the peace process. The seventh biennial Presidential Grassroots Innovation award function will take place at Rashtrapati Bhavan on march 7 at 10.30pm, Mughal garden, New Delhi. Honourable President will also inaugurate an innovation exhibition on the occasion. This occasion will also be used to link innovators with all those who wish to add value and take them forward.

 

There is a proposal to develop a campus for integrated grassroots innovation eco-systems  near amrapur in collaboration with eminent social institutions. We are hopeful of partners and contributors who will join hands in making this a sustainable  green community campus imbued with honey bee network values.  Recent elections revealed that there are several thousand centenarians voters in Gujarat. We are looking forward to volunteers who will travel to different parts of the state, collect   their blessings and also document the lessons of their life. Younger students will be preferred so that the values they imbibe will last for longer time ahead.

 

We have realised during linkage of technology students with MSME and informal sector that many students face difficulty in fabrication, testing, and formulating their solutions.  Sristi wishes to pool a database of lab/workshop  facilities which respective colleges/private sector  wish to make accessible to deserving students to encourage more flexible and friendly environment for pursuing solutions to real life problems,. The FAB lab set up with the help of MIT Boston at EQDC will also be made accessible to them. In addition, sadhbhav-sristi-sanshodhan natural product lab already allows students from various universities to pursue their master’s work in our lab, It will be made accessible in three shifts to aspiring socially committed students.On  march 27, SRISTI will have a function to bestow Gandhian  young Technological innovation awards upon the young technology stuidnets who have made outstanding contributions towards  solving social or msme problems with MLM (  More from Less for many) approach or have  pushed technological frontiers ( last date for submissions, Jan 31, 2013 at info@sristi.org).

 

A summer school on ‘Designs that Make a Significant Difference’ is also planned to bring various innovators and entrepreneurs and other professionals and innovators together.  It will be a platform to empower young achievers who have a  fire in their belly to make a difference.

 

Next week, I will share with you a brief  analysis of comments that hundreds of mourners put at white boards of homage/ shraddhanajali kept in sattvik ground  to the valiant girl at IIMA campus. If wider social engagement becomes institutionalized in our society, then nothing can stop making rulers more accountable and responsive to the aspirations of common people.  I hope that all the readers will engage with the agenda outlined here and contribute to make our society more inclusive and considerate.

 

Anil K Gupta