PNN
Nagapattinam (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 14: The Vidhya Vidhai Foundation hosted ROOTS - The Education Mile, a three-day design conclave on education, from October 9 to 11, 2025, at the Tamil Nadu Dr J.Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU) along the coast of Nagapattinam. The event brought together over 100 educators, school leaders, NGO representatives, corporate professionals, and policymakers from more than 20 Indian states and overseas to explore how education can be designed from the ground up - through community engagement, lived experience, and contextual learning.
Learning by Living: Grounded Design in Action
Over three immersive days, participants explored how education, livelihoods, and policy intersect, not through lectures, but through lived experience.
On Day 1, the conclave opened with interactive sessions on Design Thinking and Principles of Design, followed by field visits to local artisans' workshops where participants tried their hands at pottery, learning how traditional crafts reflect creativity, patience, and collaboration. The day closed with reflection circles, allowing educators to connect lessons from the field to educational realities.
Day 2 deepened this engagement. From conversations on interconnectedness and community resilience to hands-on learning in fishnet weaving, participants examined how problem-solving and sustainability emerge naturally in rural livelihoods. Lessons learnt from the field immersions and hands-on experiences deepened the understanding and practice of humanity-centred design thinking. All participants weaved them into their solution for presentation at the finale.
Shiksha Samvaad: A Collective Voice for Educational Change
The final day marked the Shiksha Samvaad, a central dialogue under the Shikshagraha movement--a people-powered initiative committed to improving all 1 million public schools in India by 2030.
The event brought together voices from passionate educationists, aspiring design thinkers, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and corporate professionals, reinforcing a collective commitment to transforming India's education system.
The day featured EdTalks, storytelling circles, student performances, and collaborative group presentations, where participants shared solutions to real educational challenges such as student motivation, accessibility, parent engagement, and school-community relationships.
Each idea was shaped through humanity-centred design, emphasising the need to design with communities, not for them.
Shikshagraha's vision - improve all public schools in India for every child to experience enriching learning and be ready for the future - took centre stage at the conclave. As part of this growing movement, Shiksha Samvaad became a moment of convergence, connecting ground-up experiences to system-level aspirations.
"Dialogues and convenings like ROOTS and Shiksha Samvaad are vital because they bring together diverse voices. Change in education cannot happen in isolation; it requires shared understanding, collaboration, and a commitment to every child's potential. We need to co-create solutions and trust those closest to children - communities, parents, teachers and school leaders to lead the improvements," said Neeraj Doddamane, Weaver - Shikshagraha.
Voices and Partners Behind the Movement
The conclave saw participation from notable voices such as P. Akash, IAS (District Collector, Nagapattinam), Srini Srinivasan (Don Norman Design Award), Khushboo Awasthi (ShikshaLokam), Vatsal Agrawal (The Design Village), Aastha Parilh (The Happy Factory), Prateek Sinha (Centre for Exponential Change (C4EC)), Shandar Junaid (Affordance Design), and Revathi (Vanavil Trust), among others.
Their conversations highlighted how ideas emerging from the field can inform policy and systemic reform, underscoring the importance of contextual, community-driven design in reimagining education for the future.
ROOTS was made possible through the support of the District Collectorate of Nagapattinam, the Don Norman Design Award, Arifa Institute of Technology, DEEP Nagapattinam, and ONGC - partners who share a vision of locally rooted, equitable education systems.
"A small conversation planted the seed for what we now call ROOTS. It was a hope, and like every meaningful idea, it needed the right soil. No other place would be perfect as the resilient town of Nagapattinam, where the District Collector opened doors and co-hosted the conclave with us. We hope that it becomes a space to co-learn, ideate and prototype humanity-centred solutions, building on the participants' energy, curiosity and contribution - towards building a stronger education ecosystem in the country", said Regila Marinus, Co-founder and CEO of Vidhya Vidhai Foundation.
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