CNN's "Be The Change" Program

CNN has equipped a group of volunteers with cameras, laptops and a brand new Web site. They will blog and post videos of their lives and new jobs as they fan out across three continents for the next 12 months.



The participants in this ground-breaking program come from different backgrounds (India, Tanzania, Combodia, Ghana, South Africa, and Thailand), but hold common values, beliefs and goals. They all want to effect change in our world by helping others.

Check out CNN's Be the Change Website and thier Video Archive.

Ashoka's Human Trafficking & Modern Day Slavery Competition

I got this through a friend Gargi working with Ashoka. The competetion is open to all. Last Date: 18th June'08

Any queries can be emailed to Gargi Saha - gsaha[at]ashoka.org



Ashoka's Changemakers and Humanity United are launching a global online competition to identify innovative approaches to exposing, confronting and ending modern-day slavery. "Ending Global Slavery: Everyday Heroes Leading the Way" aims to find holistic solutions to modern-day slavery by recognizing individuals and organizations that raise awareness of the issue's root causes, liberate those in bonded labor, and reintegrate former slaves into their communities.

The "Ending Global Slavery" competition will award $5000 for the three most innovative approaches to exposing, confronting and ending modern-day slavery around the world. A "Change Summit" will be hosted for all of the finalists. Through the competition you will have the opportunity to profile you work to a broader audience, our panel of judges, our marketing partners and potential investors.

The competition is open until June 18th. We would love to have you involved! Please go to http://www.changemakers.net to create a profile and enter the competition.

Youth Venture "Action Kit" for Social Entrepreneurs

Check out an amazing "Action Kit" for Social Entrepreneurs on the Youth Venture website. Divided into sections like Dream-It, Do-It and Grow-It, the kit discusses some of the most intriguing issues faced by Social Entrepreneurs these days.

1) Dream It - Learn how to find an idea for a Venture, form a team, complete an action plan, and succeed in the selection panel process.

2) Do It - Find info on how to successfully launch a Youth Venture.

3) Grow It - Explore how to make your Venture succeed in the long-run.

Jim Schorr Interview on Juma Ventures

As part of the Ashoka-Berkeley Social Entrepreneurship Digital Library Project, Annie Yeh interviews Jim Schorr, Executive Director of Juma Ventures.
Juma Ventures is an innovative nonprofit organization that has developed a unique and highly effective approach to youth development: Juma develops and operates businesses – known as “social enterprises” – for the purpose of providing job opportunities to economically disadvantaged teens. “Juma” translates to “work” in Swahili.

May 10th Pangea Day: Can Your Film Change the World?

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that — to help people see themselves in others — through the power of film.

On May 10, 2008 — Pangea Day — sites in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked live to produce a program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

Check this introductory video about Pangea day here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl3xHIsvF9o 

and as part of the promotions some filmmakers around the world have filmed people from different countries to sing national anthem of another nation.

Kenya sings India's National anthem: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=uAWarHi0OgE

Pangea Day is being celebrated at Thoughtworks office in Bangalore.

• Its a 4 hour event.
• 24 films will be screened.
• It starts at 11.30 PM IST and lasts till 3.30 AM IST.

Location:
ThoughtWorks Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd.
2nd Floor, Tower C, Corporate Block, Diamond District view map
Airport Road, Bangalore - 560 008, India
t: +91 80 2508 9572
f: +91 80 2508 9584

Thanks to Praneet for forwarding this.

If You Think ...

Click on image to read.

The Story of Stuff

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.

The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. See it here.

Local Indian Innovations - Discovery Channel Video

More on Intrapreneurship

In continuation to my earlier post on Social Intrapreneurs, I suggest to go through these really nice posts on Intrapreneurship:

1) The Art of Intrapreneurship - by Guy Kawasaki

2) Intrapreneur or Entrepreneur? Should I Stay or Should I Go? - by Andrew J. Birol

Keep Reading ...

Deshpande Fellows Program - Seeking Quality Applicants

Deshpande Foundation will be launching its new program – the Deshpande Fellowship, this June. This intensive, six-month program aims to build the analytical and management skills of young professionals that are dedicated to the NGO sector and to development in Karnataka.

 

The fellows will be provided with residential housing and board for the duration of the program – from July 2 – December 22, 2008. They will also be provided a monthly stipend of Rs. 10,000 to each Fellow. The Fellows will spend each week in the classroom and in the field addressing the following topics, to be taught by respected faculty and experienced NGO leaders from around the world:

• Entrepreneurship and Management (Social Entrepreneurship, Market Conditions, Basic Economics, Innovation, Scalability)
• Measurement & Evaluation (Defining the Problem, Data Collection & Analysis, Log Frame Analysis, Impact Assessment)
• Project Planning (setting goals, schedules, and work plans)
• Case studies about the challenges faced by NGO's in the US and India
• Field study of village conditions (outside Dharwad) / participatory mapping exercise
• Field study/impact assessment of local NGO's
• Financial management, accounting and MIS Systems training
• Motivational training and personal goal setting
• Capstone: The development of a business plan to create a market-based approach to a traditional NGO activity.

They are looking out for 25 fellows and the LAST DATE to apply is 5th May, 2008.

Social Intrapreneurs - Make Change from Where You Are

Wanna create a positive impact, while being at work? Read on !!!

An Intrapreneur is the person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. While "Social Intrapreneurs" are a force for positive change within business.

Few days ago, Sustainability.com in collaboration with IDEO, Allianz and Skoll Foundation launched a book - The Social Intrapreneurs: A Field Guide for Corporate Changemakers.

Just browsing through, it seems an amazing book focusing with different examples of corporate change leaders across the world.

~Pankhudi's 3rd Anniversary on 18th Apr'08

Pankhudi Foundation celebrated its 3rd annivarsary on 18th April this year. Lots of fan-fare and activities happened across its 6 chapters including the launch of this special edition newsletter.

Pankhudi Mumbai being the main hub had a cake-cutting ceremony with slum kids. Check photos here.

MIT's Low-Tech Laboratory

MIT’s D-Lab can turn a plastic baby bottle into lab equipment and refashion a toilet as a chlorination system. Here’s how its low-cost, low-tech solutions are saving lives around the world.

6 Habits To Avoiding And Overcoming Procrastination

I know this is a little off-topic, but I really wanted to share this useful article. So here it goes:

Procrastination is a habit that consists in putting off something for the next day. I’m pretty sure most of you’ve told yourselves at least once in your life I’ll do it tomorrow, I have the time or tomorrow’s another day. Here are some steps to overcome it.

1. Take It One Step At a Time
2. You Don’t Need To “Have To,” You Need To “Want To”
3. Brainstorm Your Way Out
4. Time Yourself
5. Eliminate All Other Distractions
6. Stop Being A Perfectionist

More in this worderful article.

The Cleverest Idea I've Seen In Years

Guy Kawasaki says: This is the cleverest idea I've seen in years (and Apple had nothing to do with it as far as I know): PlayPumps. Kids play on a merry-go-round and pump water for villages at the same time. Girls benefit in particular because they are usually the ones fetching water. How cool is that?!

UNEP Year Book 2008: Markets, Climate Change, and CSR

The 2008 UN Environment Program Year Book was recently released. This publication is an annual collection of the changing relationship between the environment and society on a global scale.

One of the Yearbook's features for 2008 is a piece titled "Putting the Pieces Together: Using markets and finance to fight climate change." This 19 page report takes a look at how "the private sector is increasingly addressing environmental, social, and governance issues, encouraged by civil society pressures."

NGO Post - People's platform

NGO Post is a wonderful platform for sharing and discussing various social welfare initiatives. You can contribute by sharing new, insightful stories, highlighting the best ones from all submissions, and sharing your ideas in follow-up discussions. Check it out.

Pankhudi Newsletter - January 2008

Pankhudi Foundation recently released its January 2008 newsletter giving updates and activities happening in its six chapters across the country - Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.

MBAs Without Borders

MBAs Without Borders (MWB) is bringing innovative solutions to developing countries by matching experienced business volunteers with local businesses and NGOs to unleash a big secret... Business can do Amazing Things!

MWB’s volunteers provide a wide range of business support services in Africa, Asia and Latin America which includes locations such as: Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine and Vietnam.

Interesting work .. Do check out the volunteering opportunities.

Nokia’s ‘Remade’ Cell Phone made of Recycled Materials

In line with its vision to create new mobile phones that are better for the environment, Nokia this week introduced a concept phone called “Remade”, which would be built almost entirely out of recycled materials. It’s a concept cell phone for now, but it demonstrates what can be done using nearly no new materials to build a mobile phone, the company said.

The world's No. 1 phone maker is working on another "green" concept called Eco Sensor, which involves a wearable mobile phone and a sensing device that analyzes a person's health and surrounding environment. The Eco Sensor concept, which was introduced last year, follows the "reduce, reuse, and recycle" model, meaning that both the phone and the sensor unit would feature a compact design and contain materials that can be renewed or reclaimed.

Read more and check videos

Indicorps.org

Found an interesting quote on Indicorps site:


Indicorps Fellowship is open and accepting applications now.
Last Date - 31st March. Apply Here

Greener Gadgets Design Competetion

Areas of sustainability to consider include:
1. Energy
2. Materials / Lifecycle / Recycling
3. Social & educational development

Grand Prize: US$2,500
Two Runners Up: US$1,000 each

LAST DATE: January 27th 11:59pm EST

More Details Here

Tata's 1-lakh ($2500) Car “Nano” Launched

The eagerly-awaited (since 2003) Tata 1-lakh car “Nano” is finally launched today at the Auto Expo in Delhi. Rediff has a nice article with photos.

According to Tatas, the car will have a 624-cc petrol engine generating 33 bhp of power. It will sport a 30-litre fuel tank and 4-speed manual gearshift. One of Nano's three versions will come with air conditioning, but will have no power steering. It will have front disk and rear drum brakes. The company claims mileage of 23 km per litre. It is also reported that Nano would have 20% greater internal volume and would be 8% smaller in size than its nearest competitor Maruti-800 (priced around 1.8 Lakh).

Ratan Tata, while unveiling the Nano, said: "The car will meet all current safety norms and all emission criteria. The pollution it will cause will be lower than 2-wheelers." But still the project has been criticized across the country by Pachauri and other environmentalists since it might add more infrastructural and environmental load on the ever increasing global warming problem in India. Besides, there have been protests in West Bengal and Delhi by around 12000 landowners whose land was forcefully acquired for setting up a production factory for the same project.

Despite, people are looking forward to the car, which would cost 1.5 times the Bajaj Chetak scooter. There have been signs by other auto-firms or similar projects on the way. Bajaj showcased their 1-lakh concept car 3 days back and even Suzuki (Maruti) has announced that a 660cc low-segment car is in the pipeline.

Anyone having interesting info about the car, plz add here :-)

Social Awareness Week at HFI - Dec '07

As a part of CSR efforts at Human Factors, we recently concluded a Social Awareness Week at our workplace. This small effort helped in giving light to some of the less-talked-about issues (especially within India) like global warming, corporate community development and other social and environmental effects.

We tried to convey the theme of "being socially aware" in every part of the campaign.
1) The paper used across the campaign was single-side printed paper that is otherwise thrown away or shredded.
2) The posters stuck in the office were made by cut-outs from old newspapers and magazines.
3) The prizes for the competetions were made by NGO's and a part of the total cost was contributed to their cause.

The award winning documentary by Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, was also showcased as a part of the event. The "Awareness Quiz" where the participants were divided into two teams turned out to be the major crowd-puller with almost 100% attendance.

Pankhudi All India Meet 3 - Dec '07

Pankhudi All India Meet 3 - Reflections

An event Pankhudi volunteers wait for, year after year, was hosted this time by Bangalore Chapter.

Pankhudi Foundation's All India Meet 2007 on child-related issues was attended by speakers, volunteers and representatives from different parts of India.

Hours of discussion sessions were followed by an overnight team outing to 'Nandi Hills' which rejuvenated the participants on the concluding day of the conference.

The Six Sins of Greenwashing

Green-wash (green'wash', -wôsh') – verb: the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.



Terrachoice - an environmental marketing firm - describes the 6 sins as:
1) Sin of Hidden Trade-off
2) Sin of No Proof
3) Sin of Vagueness
4) Sin of Irrelevance
5) Sin of Fibbing
6) Sin of the Lesser of Two Evils

Increase your Gyaan about the 6 sins ...

CII to launch CSR Rating Programme for Indian firms

Click on image to read full article.

Going Green: What can you do?

From daily smog to the rising threat of global warming, it’s pretty obvious that we all need to clean up our act a little.

Morgan Stanley releases Little Green e-Book with a daily dos-n-donts to make your life greener and help tackle climate change.

Much has been said about how to go about doing this at home, but what about in the workplace? Copiers, computers, even old floppy disks, can make a huge impact on the environment. Working Green explains 50 ways to reduce your office’s waste.

Fastcompany gives another half-a-hundred options, from the universal (catch that rainwater!) to the specific (lose the plastic bowls!).

Time to GO GREEN guys !!!

Education at Primary School in Punjab

I was amazed to see how kids are taught English language in some rural areas in India. Learning English by reciting poems in morning school assembly seems shocking.

10 ways Design can fight Climate Change

A British design firm "Thomas Matthews" has released a design manifesto (PDF) for sustainable design. It’s worth thinking about, and here`s a summary:

1. Re-think
2. Re-use
3. Use eco-friendly materials
4. Save energy
5. Share new ideas
6. Design to last
7. Stay local, buying ethical
8. Support what we believe
9. Inspire, have fun
10. Save money

Design and Responsibility

Finally after giving it a lot of thought, I plan to change the focus of my blog. With my growing interest in the social sector, I found myself reading lots of stuff in social domain and hence would like to share with you guys.

The name "Design and Responsibility" comes from my intimate affair with Design and passion to work in Social Responsibility domain.

Hope you find the forthcoming posts interesting and thought provoking :)

Gesture Keyboard case study released

Our work at HP Research Labs showcased at the cover page of Human Factors website. HP’s Gesture Keyboard was recognized by the Wall Street Journal’s Technology Innovation Awards in the consumer electronics category.



HFI collaborated with HP Labs to refine the design of the Gesture Keyboard, a text input device for not English computer users. Based the success of this design, HP is rolling out new versions of this keyboard for different languages at the rate of one per month.

Read the full case-study

~Pankhudi in Hindustan Times

Pankhudi Foundation
Pankhudi Foundation @ Bangalore

Ref: Hindustan Times

Karma Tube

KarmaTube is an inspiring collection of short "do something" videos coupled with simple actions that every viewer can take.

Super Adaptability