Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India

Live-in-LabsⓇ: Transforming rural communities towards sustainable living through participatory engagements

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (AVVP) initiated a unique project termed as Live-in-LabsⓇ in the year 2013. This initiative represents a pioneering, multidisciplinary approach to experiential learning, aiming to address rural communities' challenges. By immersing students in rural life, the program empowers them to leverage their academic knowledge to make a meaningful impact. Through collaborative partnerships with local administrations and experts, participants work to implement affordable and scalable solutions

In Guptapada community (situated in Odisha state in India), a Live-in-LabsⓇ project was undertaken emphasising on participatory community engagement activities such as participatory rural appraisal, focused group discussions, and co-design activities to understand and address a myriad of community challenges. The engagement activities revealed community challenges such as water inaccessibility, poor sanitation facilities, inadequate livelihood opportunities, and health issues linked to unsustainable cooking practices. Tackling these complex issues required collaboration across multiple disciplines, including engineering, biotechnology, social science, and management.

The Live-in-LabsⓇ project, its activities and outcomes demonstrates the transformative potential of sustainable solutions in enhancing the well-being of the Guptapada community.

What the Judges Thought

Fantastic example of a living lab project that has been operating for over 10 years. Really good reach, embedding societal challenges within the curriculum. Great impacts and reach to date and easily replicable by other universities. Giving skills to students for the future while supporting the community with strong societal benefits and good reach. Fully funded by the uni so driven themselves and not relying on external grants.

The project showed that they were not just looking for solutions but they really tried to understand what the problem was in the first place. It was a clear and concise applications and all stage one questions answered well.  Learners/ students gain essential skills for the future tackling real world problems in real communities. The communities also benefit = a win - win !  A very solid initiative that exposes students to solve real-world problems in a way that is respectful of the communities.

What it Means to Win

"We are deeply honored to receive this International Green Gown Award for our university's sustainability initiatives. Being chosen as the top entry among numerous universities highlights the uniqueness of our efforts. This recognition empowers us to further expand our initiatives and strive even harder for social good."

Dr. Maneesha Vinodini Ramesh, Provost - Strategic Initiatives, International, Research & Innovation, AI + X, Dean, School for Sustainable Futures, UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation & Development

Top 3 Learnings

1. The need for interdisciplinary collaboration within an institution in order to solve multi-thematic and transdisciplinary challenges in rural India.
2. We understood that to deliver the right solution for the community, buy-in from the community is essential. Obtaining community buy-in required extensive engagement activities with the communities in various forms.
3. Involving students in this process will help exposing students to solve real-world problems thereby making them employable with their perspectives directed towards sustainable development.