Session on Social Innovation and Enterprise Development at NILERD

Date: 01 Mar 2024 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location: National Institute of Labor Economics Research and Development (NILERD), Narela

Development Alternatives' Centre for Social Innovation and Inclusive Entrepreneurship (CSIIE) conducted a session on 'Social Innovation & Enterprise Development’ on 1st March, 2024 at National Institute of Labor Economics Research and Development (NILERD). NILERD, an autonomous institute under NITI Aayog, Government of India is deeply engaged in training and research on contemporary development issues.

The session was part of a three-week International Training Programme (ITP) on ‘Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ held from 21 February to 12 March 2024, sponsored by the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The programme was organised for senior and middle-level officials mostly in ministries/Government departments/ universities and academic institutions from different parts of the world and was attended by 30 participants from 30 developing countries i.e. Malawi, Malaysia, Fiji, Maldives, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Iran, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nigeria, Niger, Peru, South Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkiye, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

The session was facilitated by Shrashtant Patara (CEO and Senior Vice President, DA), Kanika Verma (Associate Vice President and Lead- Green and Inclusive Enterprises, DA) and Mr. Siddharth Sawhney (Assistant Program Director, DA). They shared insights into DA’s work on social innovation and inclusive entrepreneurship. The interactive session saw discussion amongst the participants who shared some best practices and challenges being faced by entrepreneurs in their respective countries. The primary focus was on building capacities through social innovation tools and processes, with the goal of promoting sustainable livelihood opportunities in the global south.

The session aligned with the Center's key focus of transferring social innovation approaches, tools, and processes for wider adoption across varied contexts and geographical regions. Through collaborative efforts, we were able to enhance capacities to integrate social innovation into mainstream practices while also sharing learnings derived from our work and its contextualisation across different settings. The Center remains steadfast in its commitment to developing the capacity of all stakeholders within the entrepreneurship ecosystem on social innovation approaches and tools with a mission to replicate entrepreneurship at scale and include marginalised communities.