India Civic Summit 2024

Connecting civic changemakers and catalysing action at #ics2024

23rd March 2024, at IAT, Queens Road, Bengaluru

A day filled with stories, perspectives, insight, inspiration and celebration

In the 15th year of Citizen Matters and the 10th year of Oorvani Foundation, we hosted a convening of people committed to making better cities – India Civic Summit 2024. The event brought together active citizens and community volunteers, working to solve civic, environmental and urban challenges. The sessions include:

Stories of change: Talks by civic changemakers about their initiatives
The secret sauce of civic change: Discussions on how diverse initiatives have helped in the journey towards sustainable and liveable cities, identifying best practices and solutions
Learning sessions on effective engagement, youth involvement and climate future of cities
Recognition of impactful civic initiatives

Sessions were designed to foster discussions, share experiences, and explore innovative and impactful civic solutions that are making our cities more sustainable and liveable.

Agenda

10 am	Opening session Special Guests: ▶️ P Manivannan (IAS), ▶️ Priya Ramasubban (Award-winning filmmaker)
11 am	Changemakers and Community Initiatives Explore the journey of local, grassroots initiatives, and their transformative power. Gain insight into connecting with communities, navigating stakeholder dynamics, and overcoming challenges. ▶️ Sharath Kumar G (Vyasai Thozhargal) ▶️ Sreekumar Krishnan (Save Navi Mumbai Environment group) ▶️ Preeti Sunderrajan (Citizens for Sankey) ▶️ Nithya Ramakrishnan (Whitefield Rising) ▶️ P Rohini Rajasekharan ▶️ Sathya Sankaran (Bicycle Mayor)
12 pm	Panel: Institutionalising Change Why is it essential to address interlinked issues, particularly beyond the local level and push narratives city-wide and beyond. What strategies help shift goalposts towards lasting solutions, advocating for systemic change, and ensuring sustainable progress in our cities? ▶️ V Ravichandar (Civic Evangelist) ▶️ Asiya Khan (Save Chevella Banyans) ▶️ Raghavendra HS (Ward Committee Balaga) ▶️ Anjali Karol Mohan (Urban Planner) ▶️ Srikanth Narasimhan (Bengaluru Navanirmana Party)
2 pm Parallel Sessions	Best Practices Panel: Building strong community foundations – engaging youth and volunteers Communities often drive the invisible work that goes into sustaining incremental change. In this session, we delve into what it takes to build strong foundations for communities and what community support could look like. It will also explore what it takes to engage youth as active participants with avenues to re-imagine cities through their own experiences. Actionable takeaways will facilitate meaningful community participation. ▶️ Gowri Omanakuttan (Communications Consultant) ▶️ Benisha Maggie (Chennai Climate Action Group) ▶️ Harsh Snehanshu (Cubbon Reads) ▶️ Dhruv Nagaraj Koundinya (Friends of BMTC) ▶️ Disha Ravi (Fridays for Future)
	Masterclass: Civic issues, Climate change and YOU! Join us as we explore the interconnectedness of day-to-day civic problems and climate-related challenges, share inspiring stories of local climate champions, and discover how you can lead impactful climate action in your own work and neighbourhood. ▶️ Facilitated by Ajay Raghavan and Jai Warrier, Initiative for Climate Action
	Discussion: Is there burnout in civic activism? What inspires citizens to become Active Citizens? What stops them? A debate on the way forward. ▶️ Facilitated by Srinivas Alavilli and Vikram Rai
4 pm	CM Spotlight: Stories of Change Citizen Matters Editors share stories of impactful projects Special Guests: ▶️ Vani Murthy (Sustainability practitioner and digital creator) ▶️ VS Sudhakar (Co-founder, Big Basket)