The Journey program brought together young minds to tackle waste management challenges and reimagine a circular economy in Bengaluru. From hands-on workshops to real-world solutions, this two-week immersive experience is shaping future leaders in sustainability.
Bengaluru, a city generating over 5,000 tonnes of waste daily, faces an overwhelming challenge in managing its waste effectively. Based on a report from Yunus Environment Hub, only 30% of municipal solid waste is directly collected by the local government, while the majority is left to be handled by private, contracted services. Despite efforts of various companies engaged in reuse, recycling and repair, a significant gap remains in upstream waste reduction that emphasizes a circular economy approach to address the entire lifecycle of waste, from prevention to product life extension, and develop more resilient systems that can transform Bengaluru’s waste management landscape.
In partnership with EIT Climate-KIC, and with support from the IKEA Foundation, SecondMuse ran the Circular Economy Journey Bengaluru, a two-week residential program aimed at inspiring post-graduate students and young professionals to lead societal transformation for a sustainable future. The program was designed to foster the ideation of new and innovative solutions for circular economy development, with a specific focus on reducing the generation of waste at source.
“We were inspired by the energy and enthusiasm to create business ideas that drive positive environmental and social change. The Journey programme was born out of a commitment to equip future leaders with the skills and mindset needed to navigate and transform complex systems. Our methodology, focused on contextualized and experiential learning, encourages participants to engage deeply with real-world challenges, fostering the innovation and leadership required to build a net-zero society.” – Silvia Doglioni, Project Lead Journey at EIT Climate-KIC
With a final cohort of 30 participants shortlisted from over 120 applications, the Journey brought together individuals from diverse backgrounds and communities to collaboratively tackle the program’s Challenge Statement: “How can innovation help Bengaluru create a circular economy that prioritizes waste prevention and reduction?”
Participants underwent an immersive learning experience which included workshops on the principles of circular economy, entrepreneurship and social inclusion, along with site visits to waste management facilities. By the end of the program, seven teams presented their respective solutions, showcasing the potential for change in Bengaluru’s sustainability efforts.
We spoke with SecondMuse Program Manager for Circularity, Titus Loh, and Program Manager for Circular Economy Innovation Cluster, Manisha Bisht, to get their insights on the program’s role in fostering innovation in the circular economy.
How does the Journey program align with SecondMuse’s approach of supporting ecosystem development?
Manisha: The Journey program was created to address the significant waste management challenge by promoting circular solutions and encouraging youth entrepreneurship in climate action. Through an idea competition, we aimed to inspire participants and facilitate practical, hands-on learning. Over the two weeks, participants gained insight into the complexities of the issues at hand, recognizing that many challenges are solvable. Collaborative activities and engagement with stakeholders further enriched their learning experience, motivated them to develop their innovations, and created new opportunities to build relational infrastructures that support circularity.
Titus: A collaborative environment within an ecosystem thrives when inclusivity and the perspectives of stakeholders at all levels are valued respectively. This includes the generation of youth and young professionals of today, who will eventually be world leaders and changemakers of tomorrow. Therefore, it is critical to engage this group at an early stage of their careers and offer them a platform to gain exposure to pressing global challenges, which will help broaden their outlook as they work towards shaping their futures.
For this program, we onboarded a cohort that demonstrated prior interest and achievements in the fields of circular economy and sustainability, and challenged them to apply critical, out-of-the-box thinking about how waste management issues in Bengaluru can be addressed creatively. This initiative not only provided an opportunity for new innovative ideas to be seeded within the ecosystem, but also offered a glimpse into the future that the youth envision, forming invaluable insights for industry stakeholders to develop strategies in line with these emerging perspectives.
Photo from EIT Climate-KIC
Photo from EIT Climate-KIC
Looking ahead, how do you envision the Journey program contributing to long-term systemic change in Bengaluru’s approach to waste management?
Manisha: The Journey program facilitates building connections, bringing together diverse stakeholders to address systemic challenges. By integrating sessions like ‘Systems Thinking’ from the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy and ‘Co-Creating an Inclusive SWM Plan’ from Sensing Local , we’ve highlighted the critical role of relational infrastructure in transforming waste management practices. Additionally, we strive to achieve this goal of strengthening networks through a stakeholder forum under the Circular Economy Innovation Cluster in which the Journey program is a part of.
“Witnessing diverse stakeholders with different objectives was enlightening. This highlighted the complexities of negotiation and the significant influence policy makers wield over environmental issues like waste management. The program’s interactive activities brought policy design into sharp focus as a promising area to explore further.” – Vamsi Madhav, MA/MSc Innovation Design Engineering Student, Journey Program Participant