“Education is the only way to democratise opportunities and understand freedom, equity, love and compassion.”

As we continue our hunt for the most inspiring projects around the world, we asked Kiran Bir Sethi โ€“ the design guru who founded Indiaโ€™s top school, Riverside School, and one of the worldโ€™s largest movements for change,ย Design for Change โ€“ to take us on a tour of the country’s most exciting projects that areย shaping a better future.ย Because education doesn’t just happen in schools.

Kiran’s groundbreaking schoolย is built on purpose and compassion. And that’s something all of her five projects choices all have in common:ย “Each organisation is moved by empathy, love and compassion to make the lives of underserved people who donโ€™t generally get noticed better,” Kiran tells us, “and helps them to live life with a little bit more dignity”.ย 

Take a journey around India with Kiran โ€“ย from the largest slums, to the streets of Bangalore, to the ashram where Mahatma Gandhi lived.

 

โšก 1.ย Indiaโ€™s top school designs a better world

riverside school

Kiran and The Riverside School students, Ahmedabad

โ€œDonโ€™t let anyone tell you that you arenโ€™t good enough. You can do anything.โ€ย 

On the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad stands a small school making a big noise in eduction. Riverside School picks up award after award, yet doesnโ€™t focus on classic recognitions of excellence. Itโ€™s more interested inย wellbeing, new learning models and a vibrant method thatโ€™s grounded in common sense. At its centre, Kiran Bir Sethi.

How Riverside started โ–บ A purposeful way to educate

 

โšก 2.ย India’s ‘Clothing Man’ goes beyond cloth

goonj

Goonj, New Delhi

“In the villages there are NO beggars. People value working hard for their dignity.โ€

Popularly known as the โ€˜Clothing Manโ€™, Anshu Gupta has transformed the culture of giving and receivingย in India.ย Goonjย is a mass movement for surplus clothing and goodsย from the country’sย rich to its poorest communities. Material is turned into a new currency thatโ€™s bartered with the efforts of villagers, who build big bamboo bridges, dig wells and build schools to strengthen their community power

The shocking story that started Goonjย  โ–บ Sleeping withย dead bodies to keep warm

 

โšก 3.ย Gandhi guides ashram to help kids

Manav Sadhna

Manav Sadhna,, Ahmedabad

โ€œWe are blessedย to serve from Gandhiโ€™s land, where Gandhiji spent 13 years of his life, and serve the poorest of the poor.โ€ย 

The spirit of Gandhiย lives on, brightening the futures of underprivileged children, thanks to social NGOย Manav Sadhna. It started in 1900 when, under the branches of a tree in theย Gandhi Ashram inย Ahmedabad,ย a team of young volunteers began playing with street children.ย Today, the activity centre in the Gandhi Ashram squatter settlementย is an informal school and community centre where youth are trained for employability. It’sย a monument to Gandhiโ€™s life missionย to โ€œlove all and serve all.โ€

Enter the ashram โ–บ Gandhi spent 13 years of his life here

 

โšก 4.ย Home composting designs clean up India

daily dump

Daily Dump, Bangalore

โ€œMore people engagingย with the way nature works isย key to creating more sustainable cities.”

There’s a social stigma to waste in India, where waste is linked to class, caste and other barriers. Poonam Bir Kasturiย startedย Daily Dump to clean up the country and break down the barriers associated with home composting. This is how you make aย national habit โ€“ย by beingย playful.

It’s all down to good design โ–บ Indiaโ€™sย first home composter

 

โšก 5.ย Special education for children in India’s slums

Prabhat Education Foundation

Prabhat Education Foundation, Ahmedabad

โ€œOur mission is to build the capacities of people with special needs to live with dignity and hope as productive and confident citizens.โ€

Prabhat Education Foundationย is replacing despair with hope byย helpingย children with special needs in disadvantaged areas. Cheerful centres encourage learning-by-doing where there’s a lack of alternativesย for those not served by conventional exam-oriented education opportunities.

Watchย โ–บย A touching look inside the slums during the pandemic

 

โšก 12 November: Ask Kiran anything

Atlas of the Future presents Kiran Bir Sethiย LIVE โ€“ in English & Catalan โ€“ on 12 November, as part ofย Fixing the future: Education edition. Join usย for aย special, free online talk, and Q&A and grab thisย unique opportunity to ask the founderย of India’s top school questions.ย โ–บย Register for tickets

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