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.

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.