Jugaadopolis

Format Alternative Pedagogy Exhibition Festival Hackathon Installation Neighbourhood Platform

City Pan India, India

Shared Community Spaces – Jugaadopolis is about bringing people, stories and connections together through innovative mediums in heritage communities. The name Jugaadopolis is derived from the word "Jugaad" which translates to an "unconventional and frugal innovation" and resonates with our perspective of on cities: resilient and constantly innovating from the bottom up.
In this specific, case we used local gastronomy and a heritage setting to introduce a variety of Indian and French students to the tangible and intangible heritage of Chandernagore. We provided an authentic experience for the students who attended the co-creation workshop as an ice breaker through a crowd sourced gastronomical festival. This provided an opportunity for one on one interactions with members of the local community to learn about the history, heritage and issues faced by the community over a meal.

India as a country finds itself at crossroads, one path looking back at its rich past and heritage and another looking ahead at the future. This dichotomy of the past and the future have had an impact on the way people live, work and play. In the wake of the climate emergency, sustainable development is the need of the hour. We at Jugaadopolis believe that our traditional living patterns are inherently sustainable and are at the verge of being lost. The domain of heritage conservation in India is largely an expert led domain which follows a traditional pattern, the community and custodians of heritage buildings often felt excluded in the process.
There was a lack of a process as well as a method to help local communities express their aspirations and articulate their needs. Jugaadopolis was designed as a citizen led movement, which helped empower local communities to take charge of their shared spaces and resources.

Mobilization Germinating the Idea

To begin, all you need is an ongoing issue or debate in the socio-political context, or something that is happening around you which generates an idea as to what could be explored. Brainstorming together or by ourselves, we draw from our own personal and professional networks people who are experts in the respective domains and would like to join the team for the workshops.
In our case, the idea was to introduce students to the heritage of Chandernagore through a culinary festival. 

People Power Testing the Idea with Local Partners

Once you have settled for an idea, approach the community with your idea and an open mind.
In our case, we presented our idea to the local community and took feedback and their suggestions on how it could be successfully implemented in their town. Ideas and volunteers came forward to form a core group to implement the idea.

Things you need Recoinnassaince

After you assembled your core team, familiarise yourself further with the environment you want to work in.
While our idea continued to grow in the studio, our team of volunteers visited the location with local partners and spoke to the local community to identify a place for the workshop and event.

Mobilization Finding partners and collaborators

Unless you already secured sufficient funds beforehand, now is the time to look for partners who are willing to join and fund your project.
Once the idea was ready, we approached potential partners and funding agencies. Our budget was very tight so we contacted a combination of the local agencies, establishments and worked with the core team to come up with low-tech and low-cost solutions for solving the problem. Creativity and innovation were the key tools.

Things you need Visualisation

Having a cohesive vision that is expressed visually will help communicate your project to the community and gather support.
Our teams worked with a visual identity that resonated with the subject as well as the local community to attract more volunteers and participants in the programme.

Communication Implementation

Having concrete aims that are coordinated with all partners involved will help develop a workabale strategy for your project.
Working with local partners and stakeholders we defined the scope, aims and objectives of the intervention. This helped us in developing a project management strategy for both our human and financial resources.

Production Decoration

With frugal innovation and design, team work and collaboration by volunteers we decorated and prepared the heritage site for the event. The emphasis was on creating a warm and ambient environment.

Production Competition

Implementing some playful elements into your event can loosen up the atmosphere and attract additional attention.
For our event, a competition was arranged between the ladies of the local community who crowd sourced different Indo-French dishes for the event. We invited the French Counsel and his team to be the judges for the event. The local ladies got to personally interact with them and have a photo each which was curated through a blank frame. The chief guests also ensured we received media publicity.

Production Archiving and Dissemination

Getting the word out there about your event before, during or after is helpful in spreading awareness for your cause and may help you with future events.
Social media and print media outreach was one of the key things to spread awareness and disseminate in the form of films, publications etc. Participants wrote blogs and shared the photos with the dignitaries on their own social media bringing publicity.