Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD)

SPJIMR’s Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD) is a networking and knowledge hub for the community of NGOs, policymakers, and commercial organisations who are developing solutions that address one or more of the sustainable development goals outlined in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. CISD offers a specialised Post Graduate Diploma in Management for managers in the development sector and hosts periodic knowledge updates and events relevant to the development community. The Centre’s thought leadership efforts are currently focused on solutions that improve agricultural livelihoods and promote educational equity.

In Focus

  • SPJIMR CISD hosts CII Roundtable, “Agri Digital Technology: The Segway to Agricultural Prosperity”

    The insightful roundtable brought together key stakeholders from agriculture sector to discuss the integration of digital technology and agriculture, emphasising the importance of talent, capital, technology, and policy alignment. The event highlighted India’s growing agritech startup landscape and the role of the agriculture sector in adopting many more emerging digital solutions.

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  • Leveraging the Union Budget: A guide for the social sector

    SPJIMR Centre for Innovation and Sustainable Development (CISD) prepared this report to help social sector organisations evaluate the impact of the Union Budget 2023-24 and harness government support.

    Know more

Education

CISD’s programmes aim to educate key stakeholders and build the individual and organisational capabilities required to drive the SDG agenda across all economic and social strata of society.

  • Modular Management Programmes

    PGPDM

    The Post Graduate Programme for Development Management (PGPDM) is a 12-month executive management programme for professionals working in the social sector, including NGOs, Corporate CSRs, social enterprises, and for those seeking career transition to the social sector.

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  • Management Development Programmes

    Customised MDP

    Customised Management Development Programmes (MDPs) are crafted to impact the management capability, performance and innovative approach of social sector organisations through application-oriented learning with a carefully curated blend of training, seminars and workshops.

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Events

  • SPJIMR CISD hosts CII Roundtable, “Agri Digital Technology: The Segway to Agricultural Prosperity”

    The insightful roundtable brought together key stakeholders from agriculture sector to discuss the integration of digital technology and agriculture, emphasising the importance of talent, capital, technology, and policy alignment. The event highlighted India’s growing agritech startup landscape and the role of the agriculture sector in adopting many more emerging digital solutions.

  • CISD mangrove visit explores how corporates align people, profits and the planet

    Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD) recently collaborated with Godrej and Boyce to conduct an informative half-day trip to the Godrej Pirojshanagar Mangrove forest in Vikhroli. Sixty-five participants from SPJIMR visited the 2000-acre green oasis in the heart of Mumbai. The dynamic ecosystem supports 16 species of mangrove, along with 209 birds, 82 butterflies, 81 spiders, 75 other insect species, 32 reptiles, and several mammal species, including the Golden Jackal, Wild Boar, and Indian Mongoose.

  • Beach Clean-Up Activity

    SPJIMR’s Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD) regularly organises beach clean-up activities in collaboration with the well-known Afroz Shah Foundation (ASF) on Mumbai’s Versova beach. This Foundation has been removing and recycling an average of 368,404 pieces of plastic and 378,351 kgs of garbage per week through their various beach clean-up drives across Mumbai, including Borivali forest, Mithi river, Dana Pani Beach, Versova Beach, and remote islands.

  • Greenovate: Innovating Sustainable Change

    SPJIMR Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD) and Tata Power partnered exclusively for the first edition of “Greenovate,” a special Sustainability Challenge. The objective of this challenge was to find innovative business solutions aimed at advancing the sustainability agenda of the company, which is now a major player in the field of renewable energy. More than 550 college students across India participated in “Greenovate.”

  • Experiential learning with SPJIMR CISD

    For participants working on agricultural technology initiatives involving blockchain and IoT as well as drones, greenhouses, and multispectral imaging (MSI), SPJIMR Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD) organised a trip to Vadgaon village near Nasik.

  • Ehsaas

    Ehsaas is a NGO mela organised by SPJIMR DoCC to celebrate the spirit of economic self-sufficiency achieved through the perseverance of artisans, Self Help Groups (SHGs), and NGOs.

  • Aasra

    SPJIMR DoCC’s annual event Aasra is an inclusive sport and cultural fest for differently-abled individuals.

Initiatives

  • Urban Resilience – Solutions for low-income urban communities

    Abhyudaya NGO

    The Abhyudaya NGO has engaged for over 14 years with 500+ underprivileged school children, called ‘Sitaras’, living in slums around the SPJIMR campus. SPJIMR provides academic and extra-curricular inputs over multiple years, making them ready to pursue higher education and livelihood opportunities.

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    Research on Urban resilience / Impact of Covid

    Research Affiliates of CISD are pursuing a range of research opportunities (academic research and case studies/policy papers) on urban poverty (including the impact of Covid) through the relationships established by the Abhyudaya NGO.

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  • Rural Connect - Capability building for rural development

    Network/Relationship with NGOs

    Over the years, the SPJIMR community has engaged with 500+ rural NGOs across India (and a few in Bangladesh and Nepal) through the Development of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC) initiative. While our students volunteer and intern with the organisations, the NGO community gains through the support provided by the students in areas such as fundraising, digital presence, strategy formulation, etc. The SPJIMR community gains from the cumulative relationship accrued over the years with the NGOs.

    Research on Agri-based Livelihoods initiative

    Many Research Affiliates of CISD (who are also faculty members of SPJIMR, specialising in multiple disciplines) are pursuing a range of research opportunities (academic research and case studies/policy papers) on the social exemplar, “Lakhpati Kisan.” The “Lakhpati Kisan” programme has been implemented amongst small and marginal farmer households in tribal districts of Central India by Collectives for Integrated Livelihoods (CInL). It has successfully alleviated the participating farmers irreversibly out of poverty.

     

  • SDG-Tech - Highlighting the role of technology in enabling SDGs

    Tech 10 Awards

    To tackle complex problems related to SDGs in India, several research/academic institutions and start-up networks have developed several technologies to provide affordable solutions and to build scale. However, poor access to relevant networks and average efforts at dissemination has meant commercialisation and scale-up opportunities are either lost or delayed. CISD will add value by instituting a rigorous process of working with appropriate partners to search/identify such technologies and then document and disseminate these technologies to relevant stakeholders, facilitating commercialisation and scale-up opportunities.

  • Awards and Fellowships

    Social Impact Awards

    Social Impact Awards is an annual event organised by SPJIMR DoCC which recognises and celebrates the contribution of exemplary social sector organisations and enterprises.

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    Regunath Research Fellowship in Social Citizenship and Management

    The fellowship is an initiative of SPJIMR’s DoCC. It is funded by Mr. Deepak Regunath, SPJIMR alumni and is in memory of his late father, Mr. Regunath Ganesan. 

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  • International Citizenry - UN and other international collaborations

    BSIEM

    The Business and Social Impact in Emerging Markets (BSIEM) program was launched six years ago with a mission to create unique learning experiences in different contexts and countries (Brazil, Colombia, India, Russia and Mexico), and to connect students with a variety of experiences, situations, problems and opportunities, and to encourage them to tackle social problems by adopting sustainable approaches, which may include launching successful business models. The University/Institute partners (SPJIMR is the Indian partner) share their expertise/adopting
    Sustainable approaches/business models while citing the context of their respective countries. The chosen focus areas are Brazil – Social Innovation, Colombia – Bottom-of-Pyramid/Circular Economy, India – Adopting Sustainability, Russia – Challenges: ESG Agenda in Russia under sanctions, and Mexico – Technology for social entrepreneurs.

    PRME

    Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) is a learning community of business schools committed to weaving its six core principles into business and management. SPJIMR DoCC hosts the PRME India Chapter event every year. Chandrika Parmar, Director DoCC, is the current chair of the UN PRME India Chapter.

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Publications

1 Aug 2023

Lakhpati Kisan programme: Boosting the income of marginal farmers through women empowerment

Mihir Ajgaonkar & Tanvi Mankodi Know more
17 Jun 2023

Biodiversity: The next sustainability frontier for Indian business

Prabhat Pani Know more
22 Jun 2023

Tackling plastic pollution: For-profits, non-profits and citizens does matter!

Prabhat Pani Know more
16 Jun 2023

The ever-growing problem of plastic pollution in the oceans

Prabhat Pani & Sunita Chandak Know more
23 May 2023

Why India should lead the millet revolution

Prabhat Pani & Akshita Agrawal (PGDM participant) Know more
18 Apr 2023

Can better water management lead to an increase in agricultural income? Inferences from the Lakhpati Kisan Program of Tata Trusts

Sushmita Srivastava, Amit Kumar Singh (PGDM-BM participant) & Yash Kamdar (PGDM-BM participant) Know more
6 Apr 2023

Shree Anna, the superfood: India's millet mission for healthier, sustainable future

V Shankar Know more
22 Mar 2023

Wake up, India – but, wash your face with limited water!

Prabhat Pani Know more
8 Mar 2023

Empowered rural women as silent change agents: Learnings from the Lakhpati Kisan Program of Tata Trust

Sushmita Srivastava & Harshita Mallareddy (PGDM-BM participant) Know more
3 Mar 2023

SDG-embeddedness in business school operations: State-of-the-art literature, ground realities, and measurement parameters

Shalini Talwar, Amandeep Dhir, Arun Madanaguli & Peter Ractham Know more
27 Feb 2023

The great melting and eventual sinking: Have we reached the point of no return?

Shalini Talwar & Aryan Sugla (PGDM participant ) Know More
18 Jan 2023

Transformation of supply chain management to green supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications

Neha Saini, Kunjana Malik, & Sakshi Sharma Know More
12 Jan 2023

Survival and sustenance strategy of primary agricultural cooperative credit societies in India: a fuzzy interpretive structural modelling approach

Debadutta Kumar Panda, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, Debmallya Chatterjee, Sankarshan Basu Know More
9 Jan 2023

The relationship between international trade in industry 4.0 products and national-level sustainability performance: An empirical Investigation

Arindam Das Know More
14 Dec 2022

Elephants are also your business if you are in the plantation industry in India

Prabhat Pani Know More
13 Dec 2022

Mitigating Climate Change Requires Innovative Solutions

Prabhat Pani Know More
1 Nov 2022

Emotions and food waste behavior: Do habit and facilitating conditions matter?

Fauzia Jabeen, Amandeep Dhir, Nazrul Islam, Shalini Talwar, & Armando Papa Know more
10 Mar 2022

Exploring the effects of import diversification on energy efficiency: Evidence from the OECD economies

Buhari Dogan, Diogo Ferraz, Monika Gupta, Toan Luu Duc Huynh & Irum Shahzadi View More
23 Aug 2022

Digital transformation of healthcare sector. What is impeding adoption and continued usage of technology-driven innovations by end-users?

Shilpa Iyannaa, Puneet Kaur, Peter Ractham, Shalini Talwar & A.K.M.Najmul Islam Know more
30 Jul 2022

Balancing food waste and sustainability goals in online food delivery: Towards a comprehensive conceptual framework

Amit Shankar, Amandeep Dhir, Shalini Talwar Nazrul Islam & Piyush Sharma Know more
29 Jul 2022

Virtual reality tourism to satisfy wanderlust without wandering: An unconventional innovation to promote sustainability

Shalini Talwar, Puneet Kaurb, Octavio Escoba & SaiLane Know more
20 Jul 2022

Green supply chain management in manufacturing firms: A resource-based viewpoint

Mehmood Khan, Mian M. Ajmal, Fauzia Jabeen, Shalini Talwar & Amandeep Dhir Know More
20 Jun 2022

Diving into the uncertainties of open innovation: A systematic review of risks to uncover pertinent typologies and unexplored horizons

Arun Madanaguli, Amandeep Dhir, Shalini Talwar, Thomas Clauss, Sascha Kraus, Puneet Kaur Know more
18 Jan 2022

Chapter 5: The labor participation of persons with disabilities in India: journey from the old to the new act (1995-2016)

Amit Jain & Shreyashi Chakraborty Know More
6 Jan 2022

Green offering: More the centrality, greater the scepticism

ShabbirHusain R.V. Know More
3 Jan 2022

Tata Power CSR: The paradigm shift for sustainability

Bikramjit Ray Chaudhuri, Preeta George, Nirja Mattoo & Jeenal Shah Know more
7 Dec 2021

Assessing blockchain-based innovation for the “Right to Education” using MCDA approach of value-focused thinking and fuzzy cognitive maps

Sarah Ashok Sonje, Rohan Sanjay Pawar, Shekhar Shukla
31 Oct 2021

National Education Policy 2020- Enhancing social cohesion and sustainable development

Nirja Mattoo Know More
22 Oct 2021

Danone: Leading change by rejigging purpose?

Tulsi Jayakumar & Surya Tahora Know More
21 Aug 2021

Understanding consumer preference between bundled and unbundled green offering

ShabbirHusain R.V., Sanjeev Varshney, Pingali Venugopal & Munish Thakur Know More
29 Jun 2021

Leveraging blockchain technology for Indian healthcare system: An assessment using value-focused thinking approach

Rashmi G. Shukla, Anuja Agarwa & Vidhu Shekhar Know More
11 May 2021

SPJIMR student wins Tata social enterprise challenge

Prabhat Pani Know More
1 Feb 2021

Migration, trade and investment: Towards a new common concern of humankind

Thomas Cottier, Anirudh Shingal Know More
15 Dec 2020

Serum Institute of India: COVID-19 vaccine pricing

Malay Krishna & Sunny Arora Know More
10 Nov 2020

Food subsidy distribution system through blockchain technology: A value focused thinking approach for prototype development

Rohan Sanjay Pawar, Sarah Ashok Sonje, & Shekhar Shukla Know More
10 Nov 2020

Assessing the effectiveness of total foreign aid and foreign energy aid inflows on environmental quality in India

Mantu Kumar Mahalik, Muhammed Ashiq Villanthenkodath, Hrushikesh Mallick & Monika Gupta Know more
10 Oct 2020

The role of humanity in healthcare

Jagdish Rattanani Know more
18 Sep 2020

ITC Hotels: Is responsible luxury sustainable?

Malay Krishna & Pooja Mhapsekar Know More
26 Aug 2020

Review of literature on green consumer behaviour over 25 years (1994-2018)

ShabbirHusain R.V. Know More
30 Apr 2020

Demonetization and digital payments in India: Perception and reality

Manisha Chakrabarty, Ashutosh Jha & Partha Ray Know More
1 Feb 2020

Factors affecting quality of schools in India

Bishwaroop Ghosh, Goutam Panigrahi & Debmallya Chatterjee Know More
24 Sep 2019

Sustainability policies for the fashion industry: A comparative study of Asian and European brands

Anupama Gupta Know More
15 Oct 2018

The Muktangan story (Part A): An organizational study; and The Muktangan story (Part B): Winds of Change

Mihir Ajgaonkar & Keith D'Souza Know More
25 Jun 2018

Livelihoods for women: Multi-agency models in India

K G Karmakar, Nirja Mattoo, & M.Suresh Rao Know More
7 Aug 2018

Giving is a Very Serious Business

Prabhat Pani Know More

In the News

  • May 18, 2021

    'SPJIMR student wins Tata social enterprise challenge’

Blogs

September 25, 2023

Leveraging the Union Budget 2023-24: Opportunities for India’s social sector

Shalini Talwar, Sukriti Anand & Mitali Nikore Know more
April 21, 2023

The Indian perspective – An emerging nation’s take on carbon neutrality

Prakhar Malik , PGDM 2022 – 2024   Know more
April 3, 2023

Sustainable development and ChatGPT: Some meaningful conversations

Shalini Talwar Know more
March 31, 2023

Innovative Ways in Which India is Tackling Plastic Pollution!

Pooja Jagadish Ugale,  PGDM 2022 – 2024 Know more
March 23, 2023

Forest Fires Disrupting Ecosystems

Kishan Dhanrajani, PGDM-2022 - 2024 Know More
March 23, 2023

Feeding India Sustainably: Overcoming the Next Set of Challenges in Agriculture

Manan Dhanuka, PGDM-2022 - 2024 Know More
March 22, 2023

Achieving 2030 Agenda: Need to balance the Janus Face of Innovation

Shalini Talwar Know more
March 10, 2023

Global Risks and Innovation: Is it time to account for the dark side?

Shalini Talwar Know more
March 9, 2023

Decoding Sustainable Financing

Anahita Patange, PGDM 2022-24 Read More
March 8, 2023

The inspirational story of mangrove conservation

Sharveya Baxi, PGDM 2022-24 Know more
March 8, 2023

Are electric vehicles really green?

Ashish Samanta, PGDM (BM) 2022-24 Know more
March 4, 2023

The ‘Bad Taste’ of Good Food

Dhruvin Zaveri, PGDM 2022-24 Know More
February 24, 2023

DLF: India’s attempt at Green Real-estate

Anuvrat Anand, PGDM 2022-24 know More
February 24, 2023

Biodiesel is the future fuel for automobiles!

Kshitij Puniyani, PGDM (BM) 2022-24 Know More
February 21, 2023

Green Supply Chains: Accelerating Decarbonization through Data & Digital Tech

Debrup Poddar, PGDM 2021-23 Know More
February 6, 2023

India’s energy policy: Balancing the energy mix in India

Tushar Goel, PGDM (BM) 2022-24 Read More
February 6, 2023

Happiness Through Sustainability

Ravi Bhai Patel, PGDM 2022-24 Read More
February 6, 2023

Community-led problem solving: A solution to the Maharashtra water crisis

Pranav Bharti, PGDM 2022-24 Read More
February 6, 2023

Benefits of digitisation and fund-raising possibilities for small/medium NGOs

Prabhat Pani Read More

Reports

Leveraging the Union Budget: A guide for the social sector

SPJIMR Centre of Innovation and Sustainable Development (CISD) prepared this report to help social sector organisations evaluate the impact of the Union Budget 2023-24 and harness government support.

Know More

Webinars

  • Social Sector Samvaad

    Social Sector Samvaad Episode 3

    The third edition of the CISD Social Sector Samvaad webinar series explored the potential of design thinking to address social sector challenges. The webinar offered development sector professionals an understanding of the human-centric, problem-solving approach to generate viable ideas to test and iterate to build solutions with real impact.

    Social Sector Samvaad Episode 2

    The second session of “Social Sector Samvaad,” a webinar series hosted by the Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD), explored the opportunities present in the Union Budget 2023-24 and how the social sector could harness these provisions. The different schemes available for the social sector under the five main pillars of Human Capital Development, Health and Welfare, Structural Inequalities, Social Infrastructure, and Livelihoods were covered.

    Social Sector Samvaad Episode 1

    SPJIMR's "Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD)" launched “Social Sector Samvaad”, its first series of webinars to disseminate relevant knowledge and skills to help build the capacity of NGOs. The series presents insightful conversations with social sector experts about new developments, wise innovation practices, and challenges in the social sector, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized NGOs.

    The launch episode of “Social Sector Samvaad” on “Why NGOs should have a digital presence, and how digitisation could help them in fund-raising” featured Chet Jainn, Founder, Crowdera Foundation, and was hosted by Prof. Prabhat Pani, Executive Director, CISD, SPJIMR.

Podcasts

  • Sustainable Futures Episode 2: Conservation of India’s Privately-owned Mangroves, by Godrej & Boyce

    In our new episode of the  Podcast Series ‘Sustainable Futures’ Prabhat Pani, Executive Director, CISD, is in conversation with Anil G. Verma, Executive Director & CEO of Godrej & Boyce. In this thought-provoking podcast episode, we delve into the topic of India’s privately owned mangroves and the efforts to preserve them. Tune in now and be part of the conversation.  

  • Sustainable Futures, Episode 1: Tata Coffee's Sustainable Journey

    Very few corporates worldwide can claim to sequester ten times the carbon they generate in their operations. From zero depletion of groundwater in their operations, mitigating human-elephant conflict to digitally tagging its coffee bushes and scientifically assessing climate change for itself and the coffee-growing community, Tata Coffee has walked the talk on corporate sustainability. In the first episode, Mr Chacko Thomas, MD and CEO of Tata Coffee, in conversation with Prabhat Pani, Executive Director, SPJIMR Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD), discusses how Tata Coffee has raised the bar on sustainability initiatives by corporates. The series is brought to you by SPJIMR’s Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD).

Team

  • People

    • Key Leadership

      • Prabhat Pani

        Prabhat Pani is the Executive Director of the Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD). He was the head of the Post Graduate Programme in Development Management (PGPDM) earlier. Prabhat possesses almost 40 years of experience in handling positions of responsibility in for-profit organisations in FMCG, Telecom, and Hospitality spaces, as well as in philanthropy. He holds a management degree from IIM Ahmedabad.

      • Tanojkumar Meshram

        Tanojkumar heads the PGPDM programme and is an Associate Professor, Public Policy, Department of General Management at SPJIMR. Tanoj is a public policy, education, and development professional and researcher with over 20 years of experience in government, academia, and the social sector. He earned his Ph.D. in Social Policy from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, USA, and has a Master’s in Public Management and Policy from IIM Ahmedabad.

      • Arati Nagaraj

        Arati is the Director, Abhyudaya at SPJIMR. An educationist with over 30 years of experience, Arati’s expertise lies in leveraging technology to develop innovative learning programmes. In the past she has worked with global companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, and Uber. In her previous role as Principal of Purkal Youth Development Society in Dehradun, she was recognised for redesigning the curriculum, implementing new teaching methodologies and raising funds.

      • Shalini Talwar

        Talwar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance and Economics, and also the Research Lead, CISD at SPJIMR. With a Ph.D. in Management Studies and MBA in Finance & Marketing, Shalini has a cumulative work experience of 25 years in industry and academia. Her professional interests span three key domains – teaching, research, and editorial responsibilities. A researcher committed to cross-functional and multi-disciplinary studies, Shalini’s published and ongoing work focuses on contemporary areas including but not limited to sustainability, innovation, pro-environmental behaviour, investor and firm behaviour, and digital disruptions.  

      • V Shankar

        V Shankar is Executive in Residence, CISD. He possesses 45 years of rich industry experience including long stints in Unilever and in the Tata Group. Shankar’s previous role was the MD and CEO of Rallis India, post which he helped establish a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Agriculture and Farm Excellence as a Tata Group initiative. He is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant, Company Secretary, Law Graduate, and alumnus of IMD Lausanne, Switzerland.

      • Chandrika Parmar

        Chandrika Parmar holds a Ph.D. from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK, with a specialisation in Management Research. She is an enthusiastic educator with a deep interest in research areas specific to social sciences. She has 30 years of overall experience, wherein she has been engaged with leading academic institutions and research organisations in leadership roles. At SPJIMR, Chandrika is an Associate Professor, General Management and Director, Development of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC).

    • Research Affiliates

      • Akansha Misra

        Assistant Professor
        Department of Operations, Supply Chain Management & Quantitative Methods, SPJIMR

      • Lijo John

        Assistant Professor
        Department of Operations, Supply Chain Management & Quantitative Methods, SPJIMR

      • Mihir Ajgaonkar

        Associate Professor
        Department of Organisation & Leadership Studies, SPJIMR

      • Sushmita Srivastava

        Associate Professor
        Department of Organisation & Leadership Studies, SPJIMR

      • Tanvi Mankodi

        Assistant Professor
        Department of Organisation & Leadership Studies, SPJIMR, and
        Lead, Teaching Excellence & Teaching Development, SPJIMR

    • Clinical Faculty

      • Anjali Kanitkar

        Anjali Kanitkar is an Associate Professor at the College of Social Work, Mumbai. She teaches graduate and post-graduate courses in Community Organisation, Social Policy and Planning and Ecology. She was a Director of Social Audit in the Government of Maharashtra till 2020. She has completed her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Mumbai and M.A. in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

      • Veera Dikshit

        Veera Dikshit has over 28 years of experience in the corporate sector across a wide range of sales and marketing disciplines, including partner and alliance management for enterprise clients in India/ Asia. In her last assignment at Thomson Reuters, Veera led business development for the corporate segment in India/ South Asia and was part of the leadership team at Thomson Reuters.

      • Nishit Kumar

        Nishit Kumar is the Founder and MD at Centre for Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBC3), a section 8 non-profit public company and India’s first non-profit dedicated to integrating SBCC methods with interventions.

      • Shalabh Sahai

        Shalabh Sahai began his journey by co-founding iVolunteer in 2001 and continues to lead it today as the largest social enterprise for formal volunteering in India, counting marquee corporate names as its partners. He is also credited with creating iVolunteer Awards, India’s only awards that inspire and establish new benchmarks in volunteering.

      • Sumeet Patil

        He is currently working as CEO and Research Director at NEERMAN, an independent non-profit organisation that provides engineering, economics and policy solutions in the environment and health sectors. He has also worked with the Water and Sanitation Program at the World Bank as Co-Principal and Investigator for the health impact evaluation of total sanitation campaigns.

      • Swapan Garain

        Swapan Garain is a social entrepreneur, social scientist, social work educator, trainer, social business mentor, and non-profit manager. With more than four decades of service to society, he has been engaged in helping set up and manage foundations and family trusts, guiding corporate for their social responsibility initiatives, facilitating government policy-making, appraising projects for funding, teaching university students, training change agents, doing field action research, writing, consulting, networking among social sector stakeholders, and promoting of social entrepreneurship.

    • Key Administrator

      • Sunita Chandak

        Sunita the key administrator of CISD has worked for more than 11 years in diverse sectors including education, media and events. She is a commerce graduate from the University of Calcutta.

Partners

  • Key Partners

    Syngenta Foundation India (SFI)

    We have partnered with Syngenta Foundation India (SFI) to study and research their flagship initiative Agri-Entrepreneurship (AE) programme.  The AE Model aims to develop and anchor self-sustainable Agri-Entrepreneurs to provide agriculture services to smallholder farmers, generating rural employment, improving agricultural incomes and practices, and furthering environmental sustainability. CISD will investigate the initiative to generate teaching-learning material, knowledge production, and policy issues for advocacy in the public interest. A research is underway to assess the efficacy of the AE training programme, particularly with regard to women. The focus is to understand how the AE training programme contributes to the development of an entrepreneurial attitude.

    Ivy Cap Ventures, and Ivy Camp

    SPJIMR’s CISD has partnered with Ivy Cap ventures and Ivy Camp to provide students with exposure on evaluating startups for investment in the Agritech space. The engagement involves activities including an interactive session to discuss investment criteria, evaluation of startups in the Agritech space, and discussions with Agritech startup founders to understand key factors that affect technology-related decisions in the Agritech space.

    Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI)

    CISD has partnered with Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI), supported by Tata Trusts, to study and research on their flagship initiative, Lakhpati Kisan. The engagement involves academic scholars, including SPJIMR Faculty, conducting research on various dimensions of Lakhpati Kisan, including women empowerment, technology integration, income increase through livelihoods layering, community institutions, and key policy perspectives.

    Mahindra and Mahindra

    CISD has established a collaboration with Mahindra and Mahindra Limited to partner on activities focused on agri-business technologies, and entrepreneurship. In the first engagement, Mahindra and Mahindra has commissioned two projects for SPJIMR students to learn about Business Process Evaluation of agri models in the Agri-tech space, as well as evaluation of technologies used by Agri-tech Startups.

    Pune Knowledge Cluster Foundation (PKCF)

    CISD has collaborated with the Pune Knowledge Cluster Foundation (PKCF) towards the aim of making the SPJIMR campus carbon neutral. The engagement started with formation of ‘Carbon Neutral Campus (CNC)’ team within SPJIMR, and initial orientation/training to work towards establishing the baseline status of the SPJIMR campus on Carbon neutrality.

Vlogs

  • World Ozone Day

    On this World Ozone Day this vlog presents key insights from our PGDM 2022-24, participant Kishan Dhanrajani’s blog that delves into the pressing issue of forest fires and their far-reaching impact on the ozone layer and our environment.

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  • International Plastic Bag Free Day

    The video presents insights shared by its Executive Director Prabhat Pani in his article, “Tackling plastic pollution: For-profits, non-profits and citizens does matter!” to commemorate the International Plastic Bag Free Day.

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  • World Food Safety Day

    This video presents salient points from our PGDM 2022-24 participant, Manan Dhanuka’s blog, “Feeding India sustainably: Overcoming the next set of challenges in agriculture”. In his blog, Manan notes agriculture’s critical role in safeguarding food safety for everyone.

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  • World Environment Day 2023

    On World Environment Day, CISD presents this video to highlight the insights shared by our PGDM participant Pooja Ugale in her blog, “Innovative ways in which India is tackling plastic pollution!”.

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  • Insights on climate change by participant Raj Desai

    On Earth Day, this vlog presented highlights from our PGDM 2024 participant Raj Desai’s blog on the pressing issue of climate change and its impact on public health, exploring solutions to minimise greenhouse gas emissions and supporting sustainable practices.

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  • World Biodiversity Day Video

    On World Biodiversity Day, this vlog presents insights about the human-wildlife conflict and how Tata Coffee (TCL) manages the continuing elephant menace at its coffee plantations spanning across 19 states with its well-implemented strategies to coexist in harmony with nature. The article written by SPJIMR CISD Executive Director, Prabhat Pani was published in Forbes India.

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  • On World Health Day, this vlog presents unsustainable agricultural practices, the negative impact of the meat and dairy industry and possible solutions to enhance both human health and the environment highlighted by our PGDM 2024, participant Dhruvin Zaveri in his blog, The ‘Bad Taste’ of good food.

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  • On World Water Day, this vlog highlights the serious water issues and the possible solutions elaborated by our PGDM 2024, participant Pranav Bharti

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Working Papers

CISD research affiliates pursue a wide range of research activities, including research articles, case studies and policy papers on the “Lakhpati Kisan” project of Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI) an exemplar in the space of ‘Sustainable Livelihoods in Agriculture’.

  • Lakhpati Kisan Project of CInI

    Lakhpati Kisan Programme (LKP): A case of multi-pronged intervention for household income enhancement

    Sushmita Srivastav and Lijo John

    Agriculture based interventions directed towards sustainable income and livelihood have been of utmost importance for governments, policy makers and farmer communities across the world. Lakhpati Kisan Smart village programme undertaken by Tata Trusts with its nodal agency CInI, in India, has covered more than a lakh household in the Tribal belts of India. It has substantially improved incomes to cross INR 100,000 per annum (and therefore lakhpati) for more than 50% of the farmer households. This paper seeks to study how LKP operationalized this multi-pronged approach resulting in increase in the house-hold income and to arrive at a holistic understanding of the programme. This study has been done with extensive interactions with various LKP stakeholders in the State of Gujarat, India. The paper has been accepted for presentation at an international conference shortly.

    The role of women–led Farmer Producer Companies (FPC) in achieving sustainable livelihood: A study of FPCs under the Lakhpati Kisan Programme

    Sushmita Srivastav and Lijo John

    Although India has over 8000 FPCs- an Apex community-led intervention of farmers, only 3% are Women FPCs. This despite the fact that 85% of agricultural farmers in India are women and they contribute significantly to the rural economy of the country, mostly as farm labourers. Mainstreaming women farmers into institutions like the FPC is more likely to lead to better utilization of resources that would contribute to livelihood. This study focuses on how LKP has facilitated the women to play a critical role in FPCs in achieving sustainable livelihood – not only in increasing agricultural income but also improving the quality of life through improved agricultural and livestock practices. Some of the outcomes would be centred around the critical underlying factors in identifying role of women in low income Agri-communities for creating sustainable and inclusive growth through formal institutions such as FPCs.

    Securing sustainable income through irreversible poverty: A comparative study of the Lakhpati Kisan Programme in the states of Gujarat and Jharkhand in India

    Sushmita Srivastav and Lijo John

    This paper is based on a comparative study of two States, Gujarat and Jharkhand in India, where the Lakhpati Kisan programme has been introduced to achieve sustainable income and break poverty traps. It seeks to answer the question of how the same programme with same operational capability has varied outcomes in different geographies. The paper also delves into the softer aspects of regional economic variations such as socio, economic, cultural and political factors, amongst others.

    Case study on the Lakhpati Kisan Programme

    Mihir Ajgaonkar and Tanvi Mankodi

    Tata Trusts and CINI have focused on the development of the marginal farmers from the tribal belt in India, with an objective to uplift their livelihood under the programme” Lakhpati Kisan”.

    The programme leaders of the “Lakhpati Kisan” have designed various interventions for the improvement in the economic status of these farmers through women empowerment. This teaching case study explores the sustainability of leadership dimensions of these interventions in the context of the overall social objectives of the “Lakhpati Kisan” programme.

    The data for this teaching case have been collected through in-depth qualitative interviews and through secondary sources from the records of CINI and the public domain. This case is in progress.

    The teaching case would be useful for teaching leadership frameworks in the Organizational Behaviour courses in the Master of Business Administration and other post-graduate management and executive education programmes.

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Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Development (CISD)

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