The learning curve: Multilayered knowledge transfers in the Federation

By Christopher Green, Chiara Passerini, Kate Segal, and Tanya Welsh		1.The group of students who visited Pune, India 2. Savita Sona- wane who leads Pune Mahila Milan 3 Savita shows how they read maps to Shibani/ Photo credits: Chiara Shibani and kate
Eight eager foreign students from the New School arrived in Pune, wide-eyed yet uncertain about what we were there to see. The decision to take the trip to Pune, came after a week of site visits with slum communities in Mumbai who work with the National Slum Dwellers Federation (the Federation) on sav- ings, sanitation, and relocation. While meeting with Jockin Ar- putham, he emphatically told us that “everything began in Pune; you cannot start your work here until you see Pune.” The four of us are documenting the informal mechanisms by which knowledge is transferred from current Federation com- munity leaders in Mumbai to younger generations. Our goal in Pune, aside from understanding its importance within the Fed- eration, was to sneak in a couple of questions about knowledge transfer during our whirlwind36-hour stay. The organization’s process of knowledge transfer has many layers. The leaders formulate the enumeration survey ques- tions by spending time in communities and reflecting on their own experiences: “We live in slums; these are the questions we come across in our daily lives.” They work alongside slum- dwellers in Pune throughout the process of relocation and in situ upgrading, building the capacity of community members – most of whom are women – as leaders. Communities from other cities in India, such as Bhopal, Nanded, Delhi, and Ban- galore have come to Pune to absorb their processes and try to replicate them in their own communities; in the same vein, Pune Mahila Milan has traveled to cities across the Global South to share their knowledge with communities facing simi- lar issues. Knowledge is also transferred upwards from Mahila Milan to local politicians, commissioners, urban planners, aca- demics, and the like.
Our “a-ha!” moment dawned on us after we had asked our pre-planned questions, when we were wrapping up to leave. Savita Sonawane, president of Mahila Milan in Pune, remarked that in the last 20 years, many foreigners have visited them but have rarely asked about how future generations can continue this important work so that it is not lost or forgotten. The realization that while studying the processes of knowledge transfer we too are part of this knowledge transfer had not occurred to us until that moment. We were invited to ask questions after visiting the projects Pune Mahila Milan had spearheaded and continue to be involved with; what we did not expect was that the members also gained insights from answering our questions. The exchange that had taken place was not one-directional; rather, it elucidates the collective and collaborative process that is integral to the Federation’s work.

Learn - Participatory Enumeration and Mapping (10 weeks online course)

The course is for Community organisers, students of urban planning and development, social workers, municipal officials, NGO staff, local service providing agencies, field staff of banks and financial institutions, professional urban planners and consultants, and young boys and girls from the urban slums and poor communities.

For more details visit- 

http://www.pria.org/participatory_enummeration_mapping.htm

SPARC has developed these 3 video to show how the communities conduct settlement and household survey. Thus showcase how knowledge helps the communities for negotiation and empowerment.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqxaLgRcg1z93iRPW9IGjTsL4wbAo3FOc

Solar Power Push

Install solar panels on plot size 500 Sq yards + made mandatory by Haryana government.

Without power: Mumbai’s pavement dwellers

If you can read this, you’re not affected. For most urban dwellers electricity is available at the flick of a switch, to power our numerous appliances from our coffee machines to our computers and TVs, but not for all: many of the urban poor still have no access to electricity although the power cables are literally just two meters above their heads.

Pavement Dwellers at Goregaon Western Express HIghway

In the new Energy Justice program of SPARC we have just recently started a survey in order to better understand the needs and problems of the urban poor related to energy. Last week we have been at a settlement of pavement dwellers next to the Western Express Highway in Goregaon, Mumbai who live there for at least the last 10 years. Although all of the households do not have access to electricity at all, they have energy expenditures between 300 and 750 Rupees per month just to be able to illuminate their homes in the evening with some candles and to charge their cell phones at the next kiosk. This costs them every day between 10-15 Rupees.   

Most of the children go to school, but in the evenings 

they have to study  under the street light.

It was hard to believe for us but most of the households have to manage a living in Mumbai with less than a Dollar per day per capita, some of them even with half a dollar. It’s no wonder then that these households seek to avoid spending any money where it is not absolutely necessary and therefore cook their meals on traditional three-stone-stoves. Because most of the men work as casual laborers and are out of the house, it is the task of the women to collect the wood which lasts between 1 and 2 hours every day. Cooking with open fire or on three stones is not only time intensive but also health threatening because of the smoke and causes respiratory diseases. And this is not done with a cough – the Worlds Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annually more than 4 million people die because of cooking with solid fuels of which 50% are children below the age of 5. 
(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/)

We have started our new Energy Justice program in order to develop jointly with the urban poor solutions that will provide them with a better access to modern energy and also reduces the costs for them. We will keep you updated here about the further development of this project.

Author : Vincent Moeller is working for SPARC as an advisor on Renewable Energy and Climate Change since June 2014.

Centre prepares concept note on smart cities.

Reference :  Live Mint & The Wall Street Journal
Centre prepares concept note on smart cities. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw85Xyzxo

The new initiative of the new government of 100 smart cities is a smart move to create opportunities for city governments to scale up basic infrastructure.  For once the definition of smart cities is becoming clear and a city that provides efficient basic services such as water, sanitation, roads, and citizen services is considered smart. The mix of cities is also interesting, as it prioritizes state capitals, followed by 2 tier cities and tourist cities.

To a large extent, it sounds like the JnNURM redefined. The goal of improving city governance, infrastructure development all seem to be on the same lines, however without looking at the drafted concept notes, one can only speculate. While the definition of smart cities is emerging,  the definition of smartness of the implementation instruments and infrastructure remains unclear. Though the current government may not want to acknowledge the work done under JnNURM, hopefully the learning from those are considered for the smart city plans,  failing which we will only be forced to accept what is done as another initiative producing piecemeal solutions which sound great for current conditions, but do not account for the futuristic needs of the city.

-- By Vinodkumar Rao

ASIA NGO EXHIBITION- THE EXPERIENCE!!

For the first time, on 27-28 August 2014 SPARC participated in Asia NGO exhibition organized by “Live week Business” at World Trade Center, Mumbai. It gave NGOs and corporate a platform to engage with an objective to take NGO mandate and work with large body of corporate and establish tie-ups with them.

SPARC showcased its work in developing community capacity through area resource centers, surveys and enumerations, saving groups and housing and infrastructural projects. The focus was on Sanitation with the theme ‘STOP OPEN DEFECATION’ thus showcasing new designs prepared by Architect Rahul Mehrotra and team (RMA) towards building more efficient community toilet blocks.

About 65 NGOs and 6 to 8 Large Corporate industries participated in this exhibition.  During the exhibition there was also a conference where speakers from Large Corporate and Foundation like MAX India Foundation, Swades Foundation, Sum Foundation, Jindal Steel and Power ltd. TERI etc.  spoke on different themes such as integrated community development into business model, corporate community investment, CSR and sustainable development .There was also a panel discussion on Business and Stakeholder Engagement towards shared value and Social Investments.  The conference was mainly for Corporate and didn’t find any representation from grass root organizations in any of the panels or discussions.

About 60 to 80 individuals visited SPARC’s booth.

MEMORABLE FEEDBACK FROM VISITORS

Dr. D C Huz, Wockhardt  “Super Work”  

Asma Kathiwalla, Thomson Reuters Foundation “Great Work Hope to work with you soon”        

Ankita Yadav  “Doing good work and helping people to meet their basic needs”                

Susaana Chenar, Gunj  “Hope to work together”              

Shalini Suhalka, BOSCH  “All the best for your Work”        

--By Monali Waghmare

Airport Slum Rehabilitation

The Economic Times 11th September 2014 p8 has an article on the latest developments on the Mumbai airport. Those who know the NSDF and Mahila Milan in India will know that the airport slums federation is a member of the Mumbai slum dwellers federation and has been working since the 1990s to convince the national Airport Authority of India, the State Government of Maharashtra to address the issue of slums long before the redevelopment and privatisation of the airport began.

A decade before,  the federations presented to the NAAI and urban development department of Maharashtra with a powerful presentation of how a slum abutting the runaway was both dangerous to the residents as well cost huge additional fuel with planes having to queue and go around the slum. Over 1200 households were enumerated, the National Airport Authority purchased SRA built tenements from the govt of Maharashtra  and households moved.

After the airport was privatised, the open letter by Jockin Arputham requested the state to dialogue with the organised communities of slum dwellers. The federated leaders position was and continues to be that they are willing to give the airport all the land they need for infrastructure and they would build houses for the slum dwellers in the remaining space. For many years this position was not accepted. Government appointed developers to find land to relocate households but the residents have resisted this and government enumerators have not been allowed to do surveys in slums.

This announcement reflects a change of position, and one that is a way forward. Dialogue negotiations between the state and communities has to be the centre for developing solutions. The poor was reasonable solutions that work for them. They are always amendable to what works for the city and for them.

--- By Sheela Patel