IIHS launches campaign for innovative ideas and solutions to drive positive change in urban India

Updated on: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) announced the launch of ‘Transform Urban India - National Student Challenge 2012’, a campaign to elicit innovative ideas and solutions from students across the country to drive positive change in urban India. This is the second cycle of this student challenge. In 2011, 170 teams from 55 prominent education institutions participated in National Student Challenge (NSC) 2011.  The top three teams were awarded three lakh rupees each to implement their ideas. Supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, NSC 2012 will span the entire nation with a host of events conducted over a period of six months. The winning team from the NSC 2011—ChaloBEST, is currently testing a beta version of a mobile application that helps BEST commuters in Mumbai receive transport and destination connectivity information on their phones.

The event intends to encourage students to seek viable systemic alternatives to urban challenges of day to day life. It will not only provide a platform to share ideas and innovative solutions, but also facilitate an interaction with opinion leaders and policy makers. It is open to teams of graduate or postgraduate students and students who graduated after March 2011. Each participating team of three to five students from different disciplines is required to submit a problem statement and a proposed solution to tackle a particular urban challenge.

Twenty teams will be shortlisted from across the country for the national finals and shortlisted teams will be mentored by experts in the field of urbanisation, communication, and entrepreneurship who will help them to fine-tune their proposals. These proposals will be presented to a jury comprising of eminent professionals and officials at the national final to be held in Bangalore, India on November 30. This year’s event also includes an academic conclave where students can submit research papers that will be reviewed by an eminent panel of academics.

Top entries in this category will get to present their papers at the national final in Bangalore and best paper wins a cash prize of ten thousand rupees. The best overall solution will be awarded a cash prize of one lakh rupees, while the best solutions in entrepreneurial and policy categories will be awarded twenty thousand rupees each. Best teams will also receive grants to implement their solutions in a project mode along with technical guidance from IIHS. Aromar Revi, director IIHS, elaborates, “Half of India’s population will live in its cities by 2050. This will be more than just an economic transition; it will result in the transformation of society, culture, technology, politics and natural and built environment. We hope to create a platform led by the stakeholders together in dialogue towards a sustainable future through transformational thinking and innovation.”

To know more about NSC and engage, visit www.transformurbanindia.com

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