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DA Digest
September 2017
UPCOMING
EVENTS
TARAgram Yatra 2017 - 'Economies for People and Planet'
TARAgram Yatra (TGY) is an annual flagship event of Development Alternatives (DA) and its partners to deliberate on germane issues of sustainability. This year, TGY took place from 20th-22nd September 2017. It was based on the theme 'Economies for People and Planet'. It brought together experts, policy makers, entrepreneurs, development practitioners, businesses and community based organisations to reflect on the principles and approaches for transitioning India towards a more green and inclusive economy, with special focus on the state of Madhya Pradesh. The Yatra commenced with the resonating TGY Mela, followed by field visits & thematic discussions, and culminated into the Plenary Session. It saw participation from more than 350 people from different walks of life and various backgrounds.
TARAgram Mela, Madhya Pradesh
The vibrant TARAgram Mela was organised at TARAgram Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, on 20th September 2017. Sustainable livelihood models like watershed development and integrated village development, developed by communities with support from DA and other development organisations, were demonstrated. True to the spirit of a typical village fair, it served as a platform for the display of the unique Bundeli culture. A group of folk artists regaled the audience with their dance performances. The stalls set up by local entrepreneurs showcased the variety of unique products and items manufactured by the people of Bundelkhand. Information on government schemes was also provided to the visitors.
Field Visits & Thematic Discussions, Madhya Pradesh
TARAgram yatris visited various intervention areas of DA. They conversed with the community to understand the different challenges faced and the impact of DA's activities. The field visits were followed by round table discussions on five aspects of Green Economy. Here, they reflected on the challenges and opportunities for economies to give balanced weight to economic prosperity, equitable opportunity, a healthy & productive environment and participatory governance. Click on the given links to read blogspots inspired by the roundtables: (i) Measuring What Matters (ii) Influencing Financial Flows (iii) Greening High Impact Sectors (iv) Investing In People and (v) Managing Natural Systems
Plenary Session, Delhi
The Yatra concluded on 22nd September 2017, with a Plenary Session that aimed to contextualise the possibilities of a greener and more inclusive economy in India. It witnessed participation from development practitioners, activists, government officials, policy makers, academicians & experts, business persons and youth leaders. The session was a thought provoking discussion between the participants and three eminent speakers - Dr Rekha Pai (Inspector General of Forests, MoEF&CC, Government of India), Dr Jayati Ghosh (Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) and Mr Chandan Bhavnani (Executive Vice President, YES BANK Ltd., New Delhi).
Dr Ashok Khosla at Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jharkhand
Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman, DA, was invited by Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, to deliver the '4th Dr Verghese Kurien Memorial Oration on Sustainable Development' on 23rd September 2017. He delivered the oration on 'The Machine Revolution: Fulfilling the Aspirations of Rural India'. He shared that the efforts of scientists & practitioners like Dr Kurien, Founder, AMUL, have enabled large numbers of citizens to live healthier and more productive lives. He emphasised on the need for a 'Machine Revolution' to address the different life and livelihood issues peculiar to the Indian rural economy. This was illustrated using the example of TARAlife (a venture of DA group) as a market-based solution for bringing economic, social and environmental transformations in India's future. Click here to view the media coverage.
Dr Ashok Khosla and Shrashtant Patara at MIT Tata Center Symposium & Conference 2017, USA
In his keynote address at the MIT Tata Center Conference on 'Taking 21st Century Life and Livelihood Solutions to Those Who Most Need Them', held on 14th September 2017 in USA, Dr. Ashok Khosla highlighted the need to create business synergies between the flow of basic needs products into villages and the movement of goods produced from local resouces into high and markets. He talked about the role 'TARAhubs' would play in improving people's lives. Shrashtant Patara, Senior Vice President, as a panelist at the Symposium, spoke on ' Priveate Sector Perspectives'. He descibed how TARA had committed itself to the creation of a vertically integrated "innovation-incubation-commercialisation" eco-system to promote green and inclusive entrepreneurship.
Dr Ashok Khosla at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment, Thailand
The first Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment took place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 5th-8th September 2017. It was jointly organised by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and UN Environment. Dr Ashok Khosla moderated the Ministerial Dialogue on 'Towards a Resource Efficient and Pollution-free ENVAsiaPacific' on the final day. It focused on the need for addressing the linkages between resource efficiency and pollution reduction in Asia and the Pacific, without which it would be difficult to achieve global climate targets. Click here to view the proceedings (starting from 1:31:17). Click here to read the draft ministerial declaration on environment and development for Asia and the Pacific. Click here to see the highlights of the Summit.
Workshop on 'The Impact of a Female Adult Literacy Programme', Delhi
A one-day workshop was organised by the Centre for Development Economics (DSE, University of Delhi) on 24th August 2017, to share the research findings on the impact of Female Adult Literacy Programme - TARA Akshar+ in the lives of women. The study was undertaken by a group of researchers from University of Sussex, University of Delhi, University of Ottawa, Mathematica Policy Research, University of Tokyo and Kansas State University. Information was exchanged from both the academic research angle and the programme implementation angle, which helped in gaining insights into the two lines of work, and the mutual benefits they could derive.
LC3 Workshop at RILEM Conference, Tamil Nadu
The RILEM conference 2017 was hosted by Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), from 2nd to 4th September. The conference, focusing on scientific knowledge about construction materials, witnessed participation from 166 national and international delegates and experts from EPFL, IIT-Madras, IIT-Delhi and Cuba. Dr Soumen Maity, Senior General Manager, DA, presented the economics and application of LC3 in one of the workshops. It succeeded in creating awareness among the stakeholders regarding the norms implemented by the National Green Tribunal, open burning of any material & its impact on the health of the local citizens.
Regional Stakeholder Workshop, Uttar Pradesh
A regional stakeholder workshop was conducted on 29th August 2017, in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with La Caixa, to bring together entrepreneurs, practitioners, and policy makers from the enterprise development ecosystem at a common platform. The workshop, as a part of the Work 4 Progress initiative by DA, aimed at boosting the ecosystem for micro enterprise development by identifying synergies and pathways in Mirzapur and Bhaodhi. It was attended by the City Magistrate of Mirzapur, representatives from reputed banks, Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI), District Urban Development Agency (DUDA), Civil Society Organisations and development sector professionals.
Workshops on Solid Waste Management, Delhi
Two workshops titled 'Prohibition on Open Burning of any kind of Material - A Small Step Targeting Big Impact' and 'Swachh Bharat Mission Exposure Workshop' were organised as part of the 'Green Gold' Project in Delhi on 14th and 18th September 2017, respectively. They witnessed participation from about 200 people from the Department of Environment, NIUA, MCD, RWA, ULBs, schools and colleges. The workshops aimed at creating awareness among the stakeholders for controlling air pollution caused by open burning, parameters of air quality assessment and the impact on the health of citizens and environment. They also demonstrated models and case studies for the utilisation of different technologies available for solid waste management, and emphasised on the need for behaviour change at the community and individual level, to increase the green cover of the city. The objective was to counter the cyclical effects of de-motivation and poor performance by infusing enthusiasm, financial support and a feeling of accountability among the stakeholders towards cleanliness.
Training on 'Customer Service Skills', Jharkhand
A one-day 'Customer Service Agents' (CSA) training was conducted on 14th September 2017 for Mlinda (an Energy Service Company), at Gumla, Ranchi, Jharkhand. The training, under the project funded by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), aimed to instil basics of marketing and social inclusion concepts in the participants, considering the fact that Customer Service Agents are the last mile connectivity for access to energy/electricity. This training also focused on how the wants and needs of customers can be satisfied and how they can be attracted to buy products/services.
Safe Water 2 Programme Business Workshop, Nepal
A three-day workshop was organised by Antenna Foundation from 13th-15th September 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal, as part of the SDC funded Safe Water 2 Programme. Antenna's South Asian partners, including TARA (DA's incubation engine), attended the workshop. The team gave a presentation on the journey of the incubation of its safe water business, TARAlife, through provision of point of use purification solution, Aqua+. Additionally, a business pitch on scaling up provision of basic need solutions, in addition to safe water solutions through TARAlife, was presented to Aqua for All, SDC and IRC WASH, which was well appreciated by all present.
Capacity Building Workshop on Content Development for Livelihood, Madhya Pradesh
A three-day workshop on 'Content Development for Livelihood' was organised from 10th to 12th September 2017, at TARAgram Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with the Ford Foundation. With participation from six grassroots Community Based Organisations (CBOs) from Bundelkhand, the workshop aimed at building their capacities for the development of content on sustainable livelihood options. This content would be disseminated locally, linking communities to the options appropriate for the region. The workshop was an interactive one, using the World Cafe Method and Problem Tree Analysis to enlist the problems faced by grassroots communities in finding useful livelihood options. Thus, a matrix of appropriate livelihood options, expert agencies/resource agencies with campaign design (including media message matrix) and dissemination schedule were prepared for communicating messages of resilient livelihoods and new opportunities for income generation.
Publication
India Green Economy Barometer 2017 Issue 1: Measuring What Matters
The report highlights the current metrics that the Government of India, state governments and businesses are using to track progress. It also highlights the limitations to current reporting, initiatives of alternative metrics of measurements, and actions/inactions by various stakeholders in adopting a more holistic and broad set of metrics that integrates progress on all three accounts - social, environmental and economic well-being.
Video
Haseena Begum shares her journey from literacy to livelihood
TARA Akshar+ is an ICT based Adult Literacy Programme, being run in more than 8 states. It has made about 2 lakh women functionally literate. This is the success story of Haseena Begum, a TARA Akshar+ graduate from Uttar Pradesh.
DA in News
Zeenat Niazi on AIR
Zeenat Niazi, Vice President, DA, appeared on the programme "Ek Duniya Ek Awaaz" on FM Rainbow channel on AIR on 26th July 2017, at 4.30 p.m. She gave her expert views in the conversation discussing the twelfth goal of SDGs - Sustainable Consumption and Production. According to her, maximum wastage of food occurs from the farm to the plate. She emphasises that nothing is a waste and everything can be recycled.
New eco-friendly cement being tested for use in industry, The Hindu, 10th September 2017
A research collaboration between India and Switzerland on a new cement material that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process is set to take off into implementation. Partners in this research are TARA (Technology and Action for Rural Advancement), IIT Delhi and IIT Madras.
'Managing our Natural Resources for the Benefit of All'
In this article, Dr Ashok Khosla discusses the importance of using concepts such as resource efficiency, sufficiency & full-cost accounting to prevent possible irreversible changes in the biosphere that sustains us. This article has been published on the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere (MAHB) Blog series on 19th September 2017. MAHB is an organisation that works to highlight and elevate efforts to bring about a more sustainable and equitable future.
Smart Power - A New Value Proposition for Village Communities
Energy is an accelerator for economic growth. Access to electricity can have a dramatic impact on the well-being of rural communities, as demonstrated by the Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) programme. This article highlights the decentralised renewable energy based model by TARA (an SPRD partner) which aims to drive social well-being and enable local businesses to grow.
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