Skip to content

Empowered Citizens Make Better Cities

Every citizen can become a changemaker when knowledge, understanding and tools are placed in her hands. Oorvani Foundation makes this possible.

CITIES . CITIZENS . CIVIC ACTION

Cities are where societies define themselves. They are sites of churn and change, energy and evolution. And at the heart of this dynamism are people. A city’s citizens.

At Oorvani Foundation, we connect people who want better cities with the information, resources and networks they need to make it happen. We centre the demand for better cities and empower citizens to take civic action.

OUR INITIATIVES IN

Making Cities Better

Civic media with insightful reports on critical urban issues, ideas and solutions for cities.

Open-City-Logo

India’s leading civic-tech & urban data commons and community, enabling data based solutioning

Courses, workshops and other programme to help citizens learn, engage and act

An ecosystem of RWAs, individuals, and community groups working for better cities

IMPACT

Knowledge Base

Articles
12000 +
Projects
40 +
Explainers
600 +
Solutions/Case Studies
200 +
DATASETS
400 +
Resources
4500 +

Coverage

Chapters
Cities
30 +

Solutioning

Datajams
Workshops

Civic Network

Citizen Collaborators
600 +
Citizens Trained
~ 100
LAKHS
CITIZENS REACHED ANNUALLY

*As of August 2024

Our civic-centred and citizen-driven platforms, enabling collaboration with active citizens, practitioners and experts has led to democratisation of information and understanding that is unprecedented in India.

Our work has enabled citizens to define what issues are important to them, exchange knowledge and strategies on civic organising, and come together to both demand and create change.

POLICY CHANGE

Our work has influenced and changed the policy path of many urban development issues, especially on sustainability and urban governance.

COMMUNITY ACTION

Our projects are by and for citizens, and strengthening community action on-ground across a range of urban issues.

OPEN KNOWLEDGE

We work to put in the public domain information and data from government, judiciary and a range of other sources.

FIXING INFORMATION ASYMMETRY

We have published hundreds of explainers and how-tos that make government, legal, and service procedures navigable for citizens, answer the “What can I do?” question

ADDING PERSPECTIVE

We bring stories that provide context as well as multiple viewpoints on systemic urban issues.

For specific instances of impact, please do check our reports.

GET INVOLVED

Contribute to the knowledge base

If you are an active citizen, share your story to help others in the journey! If you have public documents and data related to local topics, submit to the data commons.

Make a donation

Your generosity makes our work possible. Whether you contribute financially or as advocate for good.

VOLUNTEER

Make a gift of your time. We welcome community outreach and engagement skills.

Learning Sessions

Our programmes help citizens learn, engage and become civic changemakers through webinars, roundtables, masterclasses and workshops.