At its core, Design Jatra is a large community of architects, architecture students, tribal artisans, tribal youth interested in self-development and sustainable practices, and various natural builders in the state of Maharashtra. All these elements of the Design Jatra community work together in the many realms of its practice. Quite often, there is a need for innovative and creative external inputs in order to boost the work that each of these entities are doing. These creative boosts come from Design Jatra’s community workshops and internship programs.
Until now, such programs have facilitated ingenious product designs for our Tokar initiative as well as designs and innovations to transform the traditional ‘Chulha’. They have also helped in enhancing the participatory solution-generating process in the village of Veti Murbad while providing creative insights into the designing of our community seed bank as well as in the documentation of rice farming carried out by the village community.
These programs are intended to generate fresh perspectives to the existing activities of Design Jatra. Experts from various backgrounds of design join this participatory community so that the solutions generated are that much more meaningful. Continuing to contribute even after such programs are over, the participants become part of the Design Jatra community, particularly in terms of the decision-making process that governs most of our initiatives.
Community workshops and internship programs are inherent to Design Jatra’s ideation phase. We would love to continue working with many more motivated creative thinkers, so that the collective process of making decisions is enriched with many perspectives. This is our way of ensuring democratization of the community practice.
