Updates
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Citizen Matters reporter gets Laadli fellowship
The Laadli Media Fellowship aims to promote gender-sensitive reporting and support journalists committed to advancing gender equality and social justice. This year’s Fellowship focuses on a critical and often overlooked issue: “Mental Health of Women and Persons with Alternate SOGI…
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Citizen Matters reporter gets selected for CNN Academy’s training program
Voices from the South: Storytelling for Impact is a training program by CNN Academy, designed for emerging journalists from the Global South. Regions across the Global South are often at the forefront of global health crises, yet their stories remain…
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Our co-founder Meera K, wins the Gene Burd Award!
We are thrilled to share that Meera has been chosen for the Gene Burd Award for Excellence in Urban Journalism by Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) & the Urban Communication Foundation. The Gene Burd Award was…
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Oorvani’s summer campaign: Be Part of the Change
For years, we have been your civic knowledge platform, investigating problems, sharing stories of solutions, and helping ordinary people become changemakers in their own neighbourhoods. From organising datajams that empower communities to find solutions to their own problems, to spreading…
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Treated used water: A resource waiting to be tapped
Urban India is increasingly waking up to a pressing reality — water stress is not a future threat; it’s a current crisis. At the heart of this challenge lies not just a scarcity of fresh water, but an under utilization…
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Citizen Matters reporter nominated for Kamla Mankekar Award
We are happy to share Shobana Radhakrishnan from our team was shortlisted for the Media Foundation‘s Kamla Mankekar Award for Journalism on Gender, 2024. The award, in honour and memory of Kamla Mankekar, a pioneering journalist of Independent India who…
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India Civic Summit 2025: Citizen action for climate
The India Civic Summit 2025, held on 8th February 2025, brought together over 150 civic leaders, urban practitioners, grassroots changemakers, and engaged citizens to explore solutions for climate-resilient cities. Unlike a conventional conference, this was a convening of practitioners, where…
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A new logo for Oorvani
Many of you may be familiar with Citizen Matters, which we launched as a local newsmagazine 15 years ago. The reason we founded it remains just as relevant today—our commitment to civic engagement, active citizenship, and community-driven change. The vision…
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Open City team presents findings to CMDA
On 25th January, the team from Oorvani and the Open City data community presented their findings related to Chennai’s urban heat issues to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). Dr. Jayapal who heads the Urban Heat study for Third Master…
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From dreams to real-life stories
We recently partnered with Dream a Dream, an NGO empowering young people from marginalised backgrounds, to host a session on storytelling for 25 participants on December 29th in Bommanahalli, Bengaluru. In the session, we explored the role of media in…
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Action Workshop on Urban Street Design
Last week, we experimented with a new format learning session called the “action workshop”. The goal was to help participants learn and gain a clear understanding of next steps. On Saturday, 5th October 2024, an action-oriented workshop titled “Urban Street…
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Multimedia storytelling workshop in Vyasarpadi
There was enough food for thought as the Oorvani Foundation conducted a multi-media journalism workshop for the Vyasai Thozhargal community group on July 13th and 14th in Chennai. Vyasai Thozhargal is a team of first-generation graduates, who have used education…
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Helping communities make informed choices during the 2024 elections
During the recent 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, we published details of candidates, MP profiles, interviews, voter guides, analysis and data on Citizen Matters. We also tracked what active citizens were doing to encourage informed choices in their communities and documented…
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Inspiring Change: Highlights from the India Civic Summit 2024
The recent India Civic Summit brought together 150+ active citizens, changemakers, and community leaders for a day-long event aimed at fostering dialogue, sharing inspiring stories, and strategising solutions for urban challenges. Held at the Institution of Agricultural Technologists, the summit…
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India Civic Summit: Calling all active citizens!
We are thrilled to extend an invitation to the India Civic Summit on 23rd March 2024! In the 15th year of Citizen Matters and the 10th year of Oorvani Foundation, we are excited to host a convening of people committed…