What is Design Public?
Design Public is a series of conversations about design and innovation in the public interest.This blog is curated by the Center for Knowledge Societies, the innovation consulting firm that guides the establishment of the Adianta School for Leadership and Innovation.
-
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Sustainable Farming to Feed the World?
Industrial agriculture, with a focus on wide use of chemicals, fertilizers, and HYV seeds is often proposed as a solution to global food shortages. It is argued that the use of chemicals and fertilizers will increase the yield, protect the … Continue reading
Local Innovation to Solve Electricity Problems
Siddappa, a farmer from Somapur village in Gadag district of Karnataka, designed a water mill to generate electricity. Believing that electricity problems can be solved by being creative and innovative, Siddappa took up the challenge to show the villagers that … Continue reading
An Inclusive Approach for Societal Development
Public-Private-Partnerships are emerging across a host of sectors in India. A recent conference in Tamil Nadu on “Emerging role of PPPP’s” conducted by The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), highlights the need for a more inclusive approach and the crucial … Continue reading
Innovative Models to Finance Small-Scale Agriculture
Smallholder production, which generally occurs on plots of less than two hectares, is often characterized by low yields, low quality, poor linkages, and little access to finance. A recent Dalberg report called “Catalyzing Smallholder Agricultural Financeâ€, suggests that with increased … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
Tagged designpublic, financial assistance, financing, small-scale agriculture
Leave a comment
A Community-Led Initiative by Small Farmers
The farming community of Hiware Bazar came up with a brilliant community-led initiative to design a rainwater-harvesting model that helped them fight the severe drought that they face every year. Here is the inspiring story: As the world reels under … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
Tagged community initiative, designpublic, rain-water harvesting
Leave a comment
Counting and Classifying the Kinds of Innovation
Counting and classifying are fundamental modes of thought, seen in the earliest human communities. We classify the seasons, the objects in the sky, the animals and plants around us, the kinds of people we know and how we know them, … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
4 Comments
Farmers Use Waste-Water to Grow Vegetables
Near a small town of Vijayapura in Karnataka, farmers came up with a brilliant innovation to start using the town’s waste-water to grow fodder and vegetables in order to fight extreme water shortage in the area. When fields started to … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
Tagged design public, drought, karnataka, small farmers, waste-water
Leave a comment
Looking for Off-Grid Solutions?
Considering that merely 12 percent of energy is generated through renewable sources, comprising small hydro, bio-mass, wind and solar power, India is seeking Israel’s expertise in the renewable energy sector in an attempt to increase the share of renewables in … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
Tagged Design Public Conclave, Post-grid power, renewable energy, solar energy
Leave a comment
Why Doing Business in India is too Hard and How to Change It
Rajesh Kumar explains why, despite the FDI, India still remains a business-unfriendly place, ranking at 132nd of the 185 countries in Doing Business 2013, a study conducted by the International Finance Corporation, well below Sri Lanka (89) and even Bangladesh … Continue reading
Concentrated Solar Power: A Sustainable Initiative
With the ever increasing demand for power in rapidly growing cities throughout the country, there stands a pressing need to look for alternative, sustainable ways of harnessing energy. A recent NRDC report shows that Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), a specific-type … Continue reading
Posted in Design!publiC
Tagged concentrated solar power, design public, Post-grid power, sustainable energy
Leave a comment
