Radical Experiments, Fellowships, Internships, Travel Opportunities, Self-Designed Programs, Conscious Communities, Alternative Higher-Ed, Spiritual Retreats…Opportunities for self-explorations and meaningful engagements across India and beyond!
When there’s yearning for a different and new way of life, when one is fired up to learn, to know for oneself, to listen, to make a difference or to just be…any place can become a university or a ‘karma bhoomi’…anyone could show up as a mentor or a guru…any age could be the right age…any moment would be the right moment…any limitation or challenge could turn into an opportunity…the universe will truly conspire to make things happen…to break-free, to rediscover and replenish oneself, to find our own tribe and to make this world a more beautiful place…! What are you ready for?
Here, we list out only a few of the zillion possibilities for explorations, healing and meaningful contributions! Many of them we have been able to visit, some even contribute towards or experience for ourselves while some of them have been recommended/run by well-wishers and friends…They range from short-term workshops, retreats or yatras to calls for Fellowships and lifelong journeys for varied age-groups and interests spanning across diverse fields, ideologies and geographies! (Not Listed in Any Particular Order of Priority or Categories). A world full of possibilities is waiting to be discovered…Happy Journey-ing! :)
0. Workaway: Travel Differently, Connect Globally:
https://www.workaway.info/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.workaway.app&hl=en&gl=US
1. A comprehensive List of Fellowships across India:
https://idronline.org/fellowships/
Compiled by: Indian Development Review: A list of fellowships offered for the social sector — for professional development, in the field, or in academia. The list includes fellowships offered within India, as well as some offered internationally.
2. Indian Multiversities Alliance:
https://www.multiversities.net/
All over India a movement of communities and alternative higher-education programs working towards economic and ecological wellbeing is gaining momentum. Many of us are realizing that we can be the co-designers of our own future… Will you be part of that new story?
3. Take the World’s Best Courses — Online (often Free!)
https://www.coursera.org/
4. https://www.omprakash.org/
Internships and Volunteering around the world
5. Swaraj University, Udaipur, Rajasthan
http://www.swarajuniversity.org/
Swaraj University was designed and birthed in 2010 as a two year learning programme for youth. The vision of this program is to nurture the heart’s calling of young people with an understanding of how their actions/ choices are interconnected and impacting all our communities and nature. The two year program initiates the process of being self designed learners and engages youth in developing the skills and practices they need to manifest their vision .
6. Bhoomi College, Bangalore
http://bhoomicollege.org/
Bhoomi College has brought together individuals and communities through its Post Graduate courses, weekend programmes, conferences and workshops to learn, share and engage, aiming at ecological living on our planet.
The focus of all the courses offered is on participative learning that is deep, holistic and practical. Our programmes attempt to make learning engaging and enjoyable through hands-on work, group discussions, reflection and field trips. The well-designed curriculum and Interactions with inspiring thinkers and doers help make the courses meaningful and often transformative.
7. http://auroville-learning.net/ Tamil Nadu
Train, Volunteer, Research or Intern at Auroville — Founded in 1968 in Tamil Nadu, South India, in a deserted area, Auroville’s ambition is to become an international city of 50,000 inhabitants. Its vocation is to offer an environment to work out solutions to the present world critical issues. Solutions not only material but primarily inspired by a radical change of consciousness. The whole of Auroville is a school: one can engage to learn in every circumstance of life. The best way to participate and experience Auroville is to take up a work, a voluntary mission, a project: it will reveal to you as a learning experience!
8. http://www.swadharma.auroville.org/ Tamil Nadu
5 week adventure of self-discovery in Auroville. For young seekers of the world, age 18–28 years…
9. Jagriti Yatra
http://www.jagritiyatra.com/
“Inspire. And get inspired.
Change. And lead change in others.
Learn. And share your life’s lessons.
Build and help build India through Enterprise
Discover India and a new Indian inside you
All outside the comfort of your homes, in a moving train across India ”
10. Initiatives of Change, Panchgani, Maharashtra
http://www.iofc.org/asia-plateau-internship-programme
The Asia Plateau Interns Programme is conducted at Asia Plateau, the Initiatives of Change (formerly MRA) Centre, located on the hills of Panchgani, Maharashtra, 100 km from Pune. This is a hands-on program with emphasis on learning and growing through voluntary service, leadership and initiative.
11. Experience Based Holistic Learning Environment, Sapna Ranch, Maharashtra
http://ebhle.org/
12. http://ivolunteer.in/
iVolunteer is a social enterprise that promotes volunteering. Our mission is to bring volunteers and organisations together to share time, skills and passion to promote India’s social development.
Over the last decade, we have expanded to reach out to over 300 organizations in India and over 40 countries globally and today, have an all India presence through offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune. We reach out to more than a lakh of individuals and engage 1000 active volunteers at any given time, making us one of the largest volunteering enterprises in India.
13. http://vikalpsangam.org/
Name ‘Vikalp Sangam’ is Hindi for ‘Alternatives Confluence’. As the world hurtles towards greater ecological devastation, inequalities, and social conflicts, the biggest question facing us is: are there alternative ways of meeting human needs and aspirations, without trashing the earth and without leaving half of humanity behind?
A great compilation of radical alternatives and success stories in various fields across India.
14. Earth University, Uttarakhand
https://www.navdanya.org/site/
Bija Vidyapeeth (Earth University) is Navdanya’s learning center located at the Navdanya Biodiversity Conservation Farm in Doon Valley, Uttarakhand, nestled between the Ganga and the Yamuna, the Shivalik and Himalayan mountain ranges. Navdanya has created a biodiversity sanctuary for birds, butterflies, insects and soil microorganisms, through saving more than 1500 varieties of seeds and trees. Here, nature in its diversity and dynamism is the highest teacher. We draw inspiration from India’s ancient Aranya Sanskruti — of learning from nature and forests.
15. Moved By Love, Ahmedabad
Every month, MovedByLove volunteers host a 3-day experiential service retreat on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. To deepen the participant’s experience of generosity, build community amongst each other, and reflect on subtle values embedded in our acts of giving, we will engage in various activities of “head, heart and hands”. It could include volunteering in a village, doing random acts of kindness, meeting local everyday heroes, discussing edges of practicing selflesness and more. Ultimately, by amplifying the inner transformation element of the service process, our hope is to cultivate a shift from consumption to contribution, transaction to trust, isolation to community, and scarcity to abundance.
16. Manav Sadhana, Ahmedabad
http://manavsadhna.org/volunteers.aspx?nodeId=17&siteID=4
Manav Sadhna welcomes volunteers from around the globe to join hands with us in our humble efforts to sow small but meaningful seeds of change in the community. We follow Gandhian values in our work and we encourage the inner journey as much as the service journey. Manav Sadhna believes in treading the path of service with the dual forces of love and compassion.
17. Ganga Yatra: http://gangayatra.org.in/
Yatra means Journey. In order to understand a concept through integrated approach which can have a sustainable impact, we have designed a Yatra (journey). The Ganga Yatra is like a living semester programme of one and a half months which undertakes the students on an experiential journey. Ganga Yatra offers young seekers — age 15 to 25 — the opportunity to embark on a transformative learning adventure with the goal of self-discovery. The program is based on the idea that helping young people discover who they are and what brings them alive is not only meaningful at an individual level, but also essential for building a socially just, environmentally sustainable and consciously awakened future.
18. unCollege: https://www.uncollege.org/
UnCollege offers programs that help students identify areas of interest, accelerate their learning, and be happy at the next stage in life.
19. Proto Village, Andhra Pradesh
http://protovillage.org/
Being set up in 12.5 acres of land, in the 2nd driest district in India (Anantapur Andhra Pradesh), ProtoVillage is a role-model rural community being built for the villagers, by the villagers. It will be a center for learning, practice, demonstration and dissemination of the knowledge on how any community in this region can organize itself to be Socially cohesive, Ecologically sustainable and Economically viable
20. The Wardha Fellowship, Maharashtra:
www.missionsamriddhi.org
Mission Samriddhi, founded and funded by Mr. Arun Jain’s AAUM Trust and Polaris Foundation, is a social impact enterprise dedicated to holistic human development in India, through the design and development of projects that are sustainable and capable of scale to positively impact the larger population. Mission Samriddhi currently supports projects in seven clusters including: Leadership Capacity Building, Farm-to-Fabric (organic Khadi), Farm-to-Table (organic foods), Scientific Agricultural Training, Education, Community Health and Grass roots Relief. Please visit: www.missionsamriddhi.org
The Wardha Fellowship Program from Mission Samriddhi is a 12 month Action based leadership training for youth in the areas of livelihood, community health and education towards sustainable rural development. Upon completion, the Fellows will be either be working in Wardha based development projects or in other Mission Samriddhi projects elsewhere.
21. India Youth Jam:
https://www.facebook.com/indiayouthjam/
http://www.yesworld.org/
YES! connects, inspires and collaborates with change-makers to build thriving, just and balanced ways of life for all. We primarily work with people ages 18–35, but are increasingly also working intergenerationally as well.
22. Jeevan Vidya Workshops:
http://madhyasth-darshan.info/
Existence based human centric contemplation — an alternative to materialism/science and theism/spiritualism.
A new discovery of the fundamental nature of the Universe, the Human Being & Consciousness — by A Nagraj of India. Presents a Universal understanding of the Human. Proposes Undivided Human Society & Balance in Nature: resolution to current personal, familial, social & ecological problems.
33. Youth Alliance — Gramya Manthan — Rural Immersion Yatra
https://www.youthallianceofindia.org/gramya-manthan/
Journeys that facilitate and enable young people to immerse in and build a holistic understanding of the social reality through empathy and inspire them to create a personal road-map in the path of service in their chosen field.
34. Krishnamurti Study Retreats, The Valley School, Bangalore
http://www.kfistudy.org/
“This is a place of learning and austere living with inward discipline…”
The Study which has been created, based on J. Krishnamurti’s vision, provides an atmosphere of reflection and inquiry into a deep study of the Teachings.
The Retreat is meant for people who would like simply to rest in the silence & beauty of the place unconstrained by time or space.
“I think it is essential sometimes to go to retreat, to stop everything that you have been doing, to stop your beliefs and experiences completely and look at them anew, not keep on repeating like machines whether you believe or do not believe. You would then let in fresh air into your minds. Wouldn’t you? That means you must be insecure, must you not? If you can do so, you would be open to the mysteries of nature and to things that are whispering about us, which you would not otherwise reach; you would reach the God that is waiting to come, the truth that cannot be invited but comes itself. But we are not open to love and other finer processes that are taking place within us because we are all too enclosed by our own ambitions, by our own achievements, by our own desires. Surely it is good to retreat from all that, is it not? Stop being a member of some society. Stop being a Brahmin, a Hindu, a Christian, a Muslim. Stop your worship, rituals; take a complete retreat from all those and see what happens. In a retreat, do not plunge into something else, do not take some book and be absorbed in new knowledge and new acquisition. Have a complete break with the past and see what happens. Sirs, do it, and you will see delight. You will see vast expanses of love, understanding, and freedom. When your heart is open, then reality can come. Then the whisperings of your own prejudices, your own noises, are not heard. That is why it is good to take a retreat, to go away, and to stop the routine — not only the routine of outward existence but the routine which the mind establishes for its own safety and convenience.”
J.Krishnamurti, MADRAS, 1st Public Talk, 5th January 1952
35. Puvidham Institute for Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Living, Tamil Nadu:
http://puvidham.in/back-to-basics/
https://piesl.wordpress.com/
Our dream is about imagining a day, when every one on this planet is conscious of the bountiful resources, that our mother earth is blessed with and acknowledges her grace of sustaining life on this rare planet in the whole universe, that we all are born into.
Our dream is about imagining a day, when people live on this loving planet treating her with due respect, that she deserves and fully recognising that the future of all lives depend on how we use this bountiful resources that mother earth is offering us every day.
The five basic elements of this Gentle Planet — Pure Air, Water, Earth, Sky & Fire — We recognise that learning to keep these five elements as pure as possible is not a service, but a basic duty for each one of us to ensure that what we inherited from our elders is handed over to our children in a responsible way.
We are deeply saddened by the way the modern world is evolving(?) in the name of “Development” and We recognise the urgency with which we have to attempt a turn-around in the human consciousness to work towards sustainability for all lives on this planet.
36. Vipassana Meditation Retreat:
https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/index
Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art of Living.
37. India Fellowship: http://www.indiafellow.org/
“India Fellow Social Leadership program helps young people become socially conscious leaders of tomorrow and in the process helps them discover what they are truly meant to accomplish in life … This however is easier said than done. In the 13 months that follow, the India Fellows spend 12 months working full time on demanding projects, write blogs, complete training assignments and at the same time engage deeply with their cohort and fellowship team. Just like“Samundra Manthan” it takes grit, courage and determination to go through India Fellows program. But in the end these will be the most memorable 13 months of their lives”, says Rahul Nainwal, co-founder.
38. Chinmaya Vibhooti Naada Bindu, Pune (Gurukula for Performing Arts):
http://chinmayauniversity.ac.in/chinmaya-naada-bindu-gurukula-for-performing-arts/
A spiritually charged environment in which to experience Art
Chinmaya University programmes are not driven merely by the goal of teaching some art forms in a limited sense of theory and practice. In addition to making our graduates true artists, we are also keen to make them fulfil their inherent passion and heartfelt desires. Our belief is only such an education can make a person fully developed and successful in the long run. If you have any of these long pending aspirations in you, CU programs are tailored for you:
- Have you always believed that music or dance will truly bring out the best in you and provide you inner happiness and peace?
- Have you always wanted to become a torch bearer of your chosen art form by mastering it and delivering multiple performances as a means of disseminating it to the general public?
- Do you want to benefit from performing arts pioneered with spiritual content as its backbone?
- Do you desire to benefit from a platform where great maestros and senior artists display their expertise to an audience of students on a regular basis?
39. NIRMAN, Maharashtra http://nirman.mkcl.org/
Have you ever felt that there is something beyond completing your education and having a safe job? Have you ever felt the need to do something more in life than just earn money? Do you get motivated to use your talents to grapple with the several social, scientific and technological challenges around? Does the question of finding the Purpose of your Life move you?
NIRMAN is a platform for such restless youth to come together and seek answers to these questions.
NIRMAN is the place to discover yourself, and find your Life Mission.
NIRMAN is a pursuit of leading a meaningful life!
40. Azim Premji Foundation Fellowship:
http://azimpremjifoundation.org/content/fellowship
If you want to improve school education, join us. Contributing to education requires a good foundation and long term commitment. Improving school education requires a lifelong commitment. Our Fellowship can be your first step towards such a life and will help you build a solid base. Our Fellowship programme helps you understand school education and get ready to bring about change. Our prospective Fellows are dissatisfied with the current state of the public school education system and are looking for opportunities to improve things on the ground. The Fellowship is designed to provide deep immersion into teaching-learning, the school education system and its core issues. This systematic immersion will help you initiate change in the education system and live your dreams.
41. Teach for India Fellowship:
http://www.teachforindia.org/
In order to build a growing community of leaders, Teach For India has developed a two-part theory of change.
In the short-term, through our Fellowship program, we provide an opportunity to India’s brightest and most promising individuals, from the nation’s best universities and workplaces, to serve as full-time teachers to children from low-income communities in some of the nation’s most under-resourced schools. Through this experience of teaching in classrooms and working with key education stakeholders like students, principals, and parents, our Fellows get exposed to the grassroots realities of India’s education system and begin to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and mindsets necessary to attain positions of leadership in the education system and identify their role in building a larger movement for equity in education.
In the long-term, we engage these leaders, our Alumni, and support this growing community to advocate for change. Our Alumni work in diverse roles within the education sector, as teachers, teacher-trainers, school principals, curriculum designers, and education policy researchers, as well as in the ecosystem surrounding and supporting the education sector, as journalists, lawyers, health experts, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders, all with a shared purpose to build a broad people’s movement for educational equity that will accelerate progress towards that day when all children in India have the opportunity to attain an excellent education so that we, as a nation, can find our light and our true potential.
Teach For India Fellows commit two years, full-time, to providing their students with the opportunities that can put them on a different life path. The Fellowship journey is one of teaching and learning, of working for children while developing your leadership. Our Fellows are on a mission to end educational inequity for their children, and through this, they develop a long-term commitment to multiplying that impact as Alumni.
42. Hearing Eyes Fellowship:
https://hearingeyesfellow.com/
Hearing Eyes Fellowship is an unique opportunity to live in a tribal village of Madhya Pradesh for a month. During fellowship, the fellows will learn about the perspective of the local community and how they get information about different social issues that impact their life.
Hearing Eyes is an attempt to understand close up by living them. The myth that tribals and indigenous communities in India do not understand social development issues and live primitively with backward mindsets is something we all need to unlearn. For this journey, all our senses are required to relearn and listen without prejudices & bias.
Eligibility
- Age 15–29 (as on date of commencement of programme)
- Indian citizen (Resident / Living (More than 1 Year) in Madhya Pradesh)
43. Vigyan Ashram, Pabal/Pune, Maharashtra
http://vigyanashram.com/
Vigyan Ashram welcomes you to the world of rural technology where individuals express their interest to become entrepreneur. We incubate them to provide hands on skills with technical expertise. We are open for those who see things differently and have potential for dare, to transform their ideas into reality for serving human welfare. Gender, Education, Age, are only the numbers not hurdles. Join us to initiate the change.
44. Sehatvan: The Forest of Health: Madhya Pradesh
https://sehatvan.in/
Sehatvan organises workshops, retreats and gatherings related to health, arts and society. All the program are designed to involve one’s head, heart & hands and deep connection with nature.
If you wish to take a break from the urban life and connect back to nature, this can be a good opportunity. You can join our team to developing Sehatvan, hosting programs, taking care of plants, working on water harvesting etc. In return, we will take care of your food and stay. This can be a good sabbatical from busy life and you can use the time to develop your hobbies too. Least duration is 4 weeks.
45. Project Potential, Bihar
http://www.projectpotential.org/
https://medium.com/project-potential
PROJECT POTENTIAL IS CREATING AN ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO SOLVE THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS.
47. Shikshantar, Udaipur, Rajasthan
http://shikshantar.org/
The Shikshantar Resource Center for Homeschooling, Unschooling, Gap Year, Walkouts, Self-Designed Learners was created in 1998 to help us reclaim control over our own learning processes and rebuild our own learning webs. We wish to help people of all generations (ages 5–99) and backgrounds come and explore many different ways of learning and swaraj living. We believe that self-designed learning is not an individualistic or isolated process. Rather, it happens more deeply and more powerfully when we are part of a community of co-creators. We have tried to nurture such a community of collaboration, care and trust in Udaipur. There are no exams, marks, textbooks or compulsion at Shikshantar. We see every human being as both a learner and a guru (source of inspiration).
The Resource Center offers :
* Guidance and Coaching Support: We support individuals and families who would like to engage in self-designed learning processes to develop their own Personalized Learning Plans, Portfolios and Local Learning Ecosystems (in their hometowns). We offer counseling for parents to deschool themselves so that they can better co-learn with their children. We also help connect learners with various mentors around the country.
* Internships in Udaipur’s Learning Eco-system: We connect learners for short and long-term internships with interesting mentors around Udaipur who doing very constructive and creative work. We know amazing Artists, Artisans, Organic Farmers, Chefs, Filmmakers, Designers, Healers, Healers, NGOs, Social Entrepreneurs, etc. You can also intern in Shikshantar itself. There are no prior diplomas or degrees required to learn with these people.
48. Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary, Wayanad, Kerala
http://www.gbsanctuary.org/
The Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary is dedicated to the plants of the Western Ghats, a mountain range running down the western coastline of peninsular India. Founded in 1981 by Wolfgang Theuerkauf, the Sanctuary is a garden of wild plant species grown at the edge of a rainforest reserve. Our intention is to rehabilitate endangered species and restore habitats in a highly fragmented landscape, in which only a fraction of original forest remains and a high percentage of species are rare, vulnerable or threatened by imminent extinction.
49 .Shodh Yatra —
http://www.sristi.org/cms/shodhyatra
Shodh Yatra is to undertake a journey for the search of knowledge, creativity and innovations at the grassroots. Shodh Yatra is an attempt, on the part of SRISTI, to reach out to the most remote parts of the country with a firm belief that the hardship and challenges of natural surroundings are prime motivators of creativity and innovations. Shodh Yatra aims at unearthing such traditional knowledge and grassroots innovations. Shodh Yatra is also a journey of mutual exchange and sharing of knowledge. Whatever knowledge and practices that we have pooled in, over the years are shared with the villagers during the Shodh Yatra. We also share the Honey Bee database with the villagers. Shodh Yatra is also a journey undertaken to spread green consciousness and we do it by involving women and children to display their ecological knowledge through various competitions.
50. Deshpande Foundation, Global Fellowship Program
http://www.deshpandefoundationindia.org/global-fellowship-program/
Join the Sandbox community of 500+ leaders, doers and learners from
11+ countries who are transforming the lives of more than 1.5 million people everyday.
51. The Antara Foundation Fellowship Program
http://www.antarafoundation.org/the-fellowship-call-for-expression-of-interest/
52. Amani Institute
https://amaniinstitute.org/
This unique, field-based program brings together a diverse cohort of 40 individuals to take their professional skills to the next level, build a global network, and understand how to create change, while exploring a city with a thriving innovation culture. Over nine months, Fellows will train at the depth and pace necessary for success — the intensity is equivalent to a 2-year traditional post-graduate or masters degree.
53. The Madman’s Farm, Madhya Pradesh
https://themadmansfarm.org/
A hundred miles away from state capital of Madhya Pradesh, at foot of Vindhya Hills and in lap of the Narmada Valley — an expedition is being attempted. Few individuals trying to find out if we can really live as community with all our differences, if we can live a simpler life more aligned to natural rhythms, if we can live in non-exploitative way. We are doing some organic farming, growing some trees, rearing some animals, finding sustainable ways of living harmoniously while growing in our personal individual understandings. We do not wish to create yet another gated community of “green fanatics” but an open space with invitation to all where we explore meaning of living life.
54. Deer Park Institute, Himachal Pradesh
https://www.deerpark.in/
Deer Park Institute is a centre for study of classical Indian wisdom traditions. Established in March 2006 on the campus of a former Buddhist monastic institute, it is a project under Siddhartha’s Intent Society.
The core vision of the Institute is to re-create the spirit of Nalanda, a great university of ancient India in which all traditions of Buddhism were studied and practiced, alongside other schools of classical Indian philosophy, arts and sciences.
Deer Park Institute welcomes people who can help us carry out the vision of the Institute by contributing their skills, talents and good intentions to projects at Deer Park and its network organizations, and who are interested in the study and practice of Buddhism, or other profound traditions of inner development.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, the founder of Deer Park Institute, has said that he would like all the volunteers or staff in such centers and institutes to see their contribution as karma yoga practice (seeing ‘work’ as ‘spiritual practice’), an opportunity to accumulate merit and to work for the Dharma.
We welcome people with skills and experience in the areas of community work, ecology, education and media, along with some administrative abilities. Basic English is required. Hindi proficiency is desirable.
55. Maitri Dhadak Mohim, Melghat, Maharashtra
Tribal health and education, volunteering
https://dhadakmohim.wordpress.com/
56. Dharmalaya Institute, Himachal Pradesh
http://dharmalaya.in/
Dharmalaya Institute is devoted to education and empowerment for compassionate living, with a practical focus on contemplative service-learning and sustainable development.
Dharmalaya Institute provides many opportunities for meaningful service for mutual benefit, some of which include an experiential education component (‘service-learning’ or ‘learning by doing’). Would you like to learn about a new culture or language while doing volunteer work with kindred spirits from other places for a project that benefits the community and the environment? Or, if you’re unable to visit the Himalayas, would you like to support Dharamalaya’s work from the comfort of your own home (or online from wherever you may be)?
57. LHA Social Work: Volunteer for Tibetan Refugees in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh
http://www.lhasocialwork.org/volunteer
Lha is the largest volunteer host and coordination organization in the Tibetan refugee community of Dharamsala, India. A wide array of meaningful volunteer opportunities are available for both skilled and unskilled individuals. Most volunteers work directly with Lha, while others are placed throughout the community with other NGOs.
We offer you the opportunity to share your knowledge and skills with the Tibetan refugee, local Indian, and Himalayan communities while gaining hands-on experience working with a non-profit, community social work organization.
58. Yoga Teacher Certification Programs:
Swami Vivekananda Yoga University, Bangalore
http://svyasa.edu.in/academics/regular-courses/yic/
Sivananda Yoga Ashrams
http://sivananda.org.in/teachers-training-course/
The Yoga Institute, Mumbai
http://theyogainstitute.org/
Kaivalyadhama, Lonavala, Maharashtra
https://www.kdham.in/
59. The Gandhi Fellowship
http://gandhifellowship.org/
The Gandhi Fellowship is a 2 Year Residential, Professional program in Transformation Leadership
The fellowship is designed to develop young change leaders who embody and practice leadership skills that are needed to cause large scale social and public systems change. Nation builders in the context of Gandhi fellowship are committed youth who focus on developing the leadership skills which are required to create positive, large scale and lasting change in our society. The processes within the fellowship aim to shape the fellow’s leadership skills and make him/her outcome and result -oriented — focused on the long-lasting change his/her actions can drive.
60. Young India Fellowship, Ashoka University
https://www.ashoka.edu.in/YIF
The Young India Fellowship (YIF) is a one year multidisciplinary postgraduate diploma programme in Liberal Studies. The Fellowship brings together a group of 300 bright young individuals who show exceptional intellectual ability and leadership potential from across the country, and trains them to become socially committed agents of change. YIF exposes them to a diverse set of subjects and perspectives, delivered by some of the finest teachers and practitioners from India and around the world.
The aim is to help Fellows become well-rounded individuals who are able to think critically from multiple perspectives, communicate effectively and become leaders with a commitment to public service. YIF is delivered in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science SEAS, University of Michigan, King’s College London, Carleton College, Sciences Po, University of California Berkeley, Trinity College Dublin, Yale University and Wellesley College. Students from all disciplines and areas of study are welcome to YIF; engineers, designers, commerce graduates or literature enthusiasts are all mentored into reaching their full potential.
61. Indicorps Fellowship
http://www.indicorps.org/
Indicorps offers one or two-year grassroots service Fellowships for young professionals of Indian origin who want to make a real difference in India. Fellows are responsible for implementing high impact projects that have been defined by Indicorps and local grassroots organizations to address particular community challenges.
Project Focus Areas include:
- Community Development
- Women’s Empowerment
- Public Health
- Education
- Agriculture and Food Security
- Children and Youth
- Entrepreneurship and Employment
- Science and Technology
- Arts and Culture
The Indicorps Fellowship is an intense, total immersion leadership program: our approach to development requires a willingness to challenge your base assumptions about development and yourself. It requires a deep commitment to make a lasting difference and creating positive change within a community.
62. Community Health Fellowship Program, Madhya Pradesh
http://www.sochara.org/Community-Health-Fellowship-Programme-Bhopal
The fellowship programmes taken up by SOCHARA aims to promote health by supporting the learning, and building capacity of individuals in community health/public health. Apart from the academic courses offered by the medical colleges and universities, the role of civil society initiatives in public health through community based teachings and interaction are getting recognized. The underlying principle for the fellowship Initiative in Madhya Pradesh is the need to work towards development of core competencies in public health education.
63. Prime Minister’s Rural Development Fellows Scheme
http://pmrdfs.tiss.edu/
The PMRD Fellowship is anchored in the twin goals of providing short-term catalytic support to the district administration in underdeveloped, isolated and remote areas of the country to improve programme delivery and interface with the marginalized sections of the population, as well as developing a cadre of committed and competent development leaders and facilitators, who are available as a resource for rural development over the long term.
64. Rotary Cultural Youth Exchange Program
https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/youth-exchanges
Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace one young person at a time.
Students learn a new language, discover another culture, and truly become global citizens. Exchanges for students 15 to 19 years old are sponsored by Rotary clubs in more than 100 countries.
What are the benefits?
Exchange students unlock their true potential to:
- Develop lifelong leadership skills
- Learn a new language and culture
- Build lasting friendships with young people from around the world
- Become a global citizen
65. Rotary New Generations Service Exchange
https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/new-generations-service-exchange
New Generations Service Exchange is a short-term, customizable program for university students and young professionals up to age 30.
Participants can design exchanges that combine their professional goals with a humanitarian project.
What are the benefits?
- Make connections with service-minded community leaders in another country
- Learn another language
- Build your professional skills and gain international experience
- Travel and explore a new culture while giving back through service
What is an exchange like?
With your host Rotary district, you’ll plan activities that can include networking, relationship building, humanitarian service, professional development, and leadership training. Exchanges:
- Last from a few weeks to six months
- Can be arranged for individuals or groups
- Need not be reciprocal
66. AIESEC International Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
http://www.aiesec.in/
Providing young people with the opportunity to work on volunteer and professional internships.
67. Sadhana Forest, Auroville
http://sadhanaforest.org/
Sadhana Forest is based on volunteers coming to work there around the year from India and all over the world. A thousand volunteers a year are provided with free accommodation in huts built from local, natural materials. Energy is provided by a solar system; other sustainable practices implemented in the community are vegan organic nutrition, recycling and waste minimisation, biodegradable toiletries, composting toilets, a grey water system, and, very importantly, positive and supportive emotional attitudes.
68. Krac-A-Dawna Farm near Mysore, Karnataka
Popular among gap-year students who wish to travel and do good, agri-tourism is now blooming in India as organic evangelists skip luxury hotel stays for a rustic farm holiday that teaches them everything from cattle grazing to soil tilling and cheesemaking. However, you’d be lucky to stay at Krac-a-Dawna, given their meticulous filtering policy. “We get about five enquiries a month but we are picky. Many people do farm stays because they are confused and looking for clarity in life. Ours isn’t an ashram… it’s a full-time farm,” says Vivek.
69. WWOOF India
http://www.wwoofindia.org/
WWOOF India is a network that allows volunteers to live and learn on organic properties/ farms. It brings together Hosts and Volunteers (“WWOOFers”) helping each other to make a healthier world . WWOOF India was started on 15 Aug 2007, it promotes cultural understanding of the many diverse peoples and cultures around the world through the intercultural exchange that takes place while sharing in the daily life of others
Worldwide Opportunities On Organic Farms India (WWOOF INDIA) facilitates an exchange of culture and education by connecting domestic and international travellers (usually students from gap year ) with about 240 Organic or sustainability-minded hosts spread throughout the India in about 16 states and its territories. All the hosts on our network are associated with organic gardening, orchards, spices, tea and other sustainability projects.
WWOOF India focus on sustainable livelihoods and addressing issues of poverty, through community mobilization around income-generation activities combining cultural, craft and ecological dimensions of rural life it holds tremendous potential for both income generation and enhancement of the basic quality of life in the rural areas.
70. Cultural Travel with Friendships and Homes around the world!
https://www.couchsurfing.com/
You have friends all over the world, you just haven’t met them yet.
Couchsurfing is a service that connects members to a global community of travelers. Use Couchsurfing to find a place to stay or share your home and hometown with travelers.
Couchsurfers organize regular events in 200,000 cities around the world. There’s always something to do and new friends to meet.
https://servas.org/
Servas groups, encompassing an international network of hosts and travelers.
The purpose of the network is to help build world peace, goodwill and understanding by providing opportunities for personal contacts among people of different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities.
71. Sahaj Foundation, Bir, Himachal Pradesh
A dialogue on Rural Development through Rural Immersion
http://www.sahajfoundation.in/
The dialogue comes with a purpose to understand the space of Rural Development by questioning its basics, such as ‘Localization’, ‘Self-reliance’, ‘Globalization’, ‘Industrialization’, ‘Governance’ while also keeping in mind the modern tools such as ‘Technology’, ‘Education’, ‘Infrastructure’, ‘Tourism’, ‘Entrepreneurship’ etc.
72. Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team
http://www.anetindia.org/
Over the past few years ANET has delivered different courses, programs and workshops for school and university students from India and abroad. Students gain experience and practical learning about ecosystems, biological diversity, with an emphasis on conservation. It’s an excellent opportunity to interact and learn from each other, especially from those with experience and expertise. Our education programs vary from introductory awareness activities to extensive courses on island ecology and marine systems.
73. Sambhavana Institute, Palmpur, Himachal Pradesh
http://www.sambhaavnaa.org/
Sambhaavnaa Institute Of Public Policy and Politics organizes multiple programs and workshops throughout the year involving youth, leaders and representatives of the civil society and social movements.
It welcomes volunteers from various backgrounds to contribute their time and passion to its projects, workshops and programs as well as the farm and other campus activities.
74. Swapathgami Walk-Out Walk-On Network
https://medium.com/swapathgami-walkout-walkon-network
The Swapathgami Network is a collection of friends engaged in exploring individual pathways outside of institutionalizing structures. As swapathgamis, we trust our own creative intelligences and intuition over the prescribed lives of the Ready-Made world. By ‘walking-out’ from unhealthy, dehumanizing and violent lifestyles, we are ‘walking-on’ into endless possibilities. Anyone can be a Swapathgami, and all are invited to join us for: Learning Journeys — to connect individuals and groups engaged in exciting thinking and doing. Celebrations/Gatherings/Public Dialogues — space to explore crucial issues and to build strong relationships between people with common concerns. Possibilities for future collaborations often evolve during these events when the community comes together. Communications — print, film and web resources to share experiences of walking-out and walking-on. Communities of Practice — collaborative explorations and sharing of skills. Past groups have focused on a diversity of projects including (but not limited to) film making, theatre, eco-livelihoods, self-healing, Oasis Game, organic farming and kabaad se jugaad.
75. Sreejan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
http://www.sreejan.org/
Sreejan is an idea as well as a space, a community and a canvas for all. No one owns Sreejan (though some people own land at Barkheda). Our invitation to connect with Sreejan is open to everyone with whom our stated beliefs and our work resonate. Our simple ‘Engagement Model’ ensures that different people with different gifts and endowments engage at their own pace and depth-meaningfully and creatively and that they get what they are looking for in return without manipulation, exploitation or drudgery.
76. Laddership Circles
http://www.laddership.org/
Laddership Circles are a space for project initiators to dive into the nuances of leading with inner transformation, learn about gift ecology design thinking, and cultivate new patterns of positive deviance that may emerge through the process.
Along the ServiceSpace engagement spectrum, somewhere in between an online university and an incubator, is a space for project initiators to dive into our ‘gift ecology’ processes, learn about the nuances of leading with inner transformation, and hold space for new designs to come to light. Traditional project incubators support their entrepreneurs in becoming sustainable through money, but the Generosity Entrepreneurs idea is to be sustainable through nature. More specifically, through generosity.
78. Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship
http://lamp.prsindia.org/thefellowship
LAMP provides an opportunity for young Indians to be mentored by a Member of Parliament for a period of 10–11 months, subject to the Parliamentary calendar. The LAMP Fellows work full time with the assigned MP, from the beginning of the Monsoon session to the end of the Budget session of Parliament. Throughout the eleven months, the LAMP Fellow works closely with the MP, providing extensive research support for his/her parliamentary work.
79. Apni Shala Fellowship:
http://www.apnishala.org/fellowship.html
The Apni Shala Fellowship is a one-year full-time, paid fellowship programme for young people with a dream to change the way children learn.
80. Transforming India Fellowship
https://www.alcindia.org/
Our aim is to mentor and build responsible entrepreneurs and make them capable of building enterprises that focussed on triple bottom-line — people, planet, and profit.
81. Dnyatra — Dnyan Yatra
http://dnyatra.org/
Dnyatra stands for DnyanYatra. It helps to explore one’s inner potential and bring out the best out of him.
Through Dnyatra, selected youngsters will travel across the nation to meet different Dnyani’s. In this travel, youth will spend maximum time with these great personalities and get required knowledge to lead a successful life. This travel will help them explore their own potential and vision of life.
Dnyatra aims to guide youngsters to excel in their own fields and lead a happy and joyful life.
82. Urban Fellows Program
http://urbanfellows.iihs.co.in/
The UFP is a tuition-free, nine-month, full-time, inter-disciplinary fellowship based at the IIHS City Campus in Bengaluru. It seeks to combine classroom-based teaching, site-based applied learning, work in live projects, and external internships to introduce the Fellows to diverse forms of urban practice. It is open to recent graduates and young professionals from varied educational backgrounds or practice domains
83. Journeys With Meaning
http://journeyswithmeaning.org/
Journeys With Meaning (JwM) is an India-based social enterprise that offers earth-friendly journeys featuring inspiring environmental and social solutions.
Over the years, we’ve found that earth-friendly travel is one of the most beautiful ways to take us from theory to practice, from reading to experiencing, and from watching to doing.
This kind of travel compels us to re-evaluate our opinions about ourselves, other people, and the planet itself. It challenges us to take a fresh look at our beliefs about the world, and compare them with the new experiences we’re having. Most importantly, it opens up large welcoming windows into diverse other worlds that our education and work are often unable to. Travel then, to us, becomes our primary way of learning about the world we live in.
When we travel to ‘see’ places, our seeing remains narrow and exclusive — we end up focusing our attention on a few sightseeing visits. But when we make ‘exploration’ our purpose, we open ourselves up to so much more — different experiences, a diversity of cultures, and new ideas and practices that we can take back with us when we return home.
84. The Dalai Lama Fellowship
https://www.dalailamafellows.org/
Our Fellowship offers emerging leaders a rigorous, interdisciplinary program on ways to be a different kind of leader, a leader that connects and cares for self, extends genuine compassion to others, and works for our common humanity. Fellows cultivate practices in mind training for increasing self-awareness, self-care and resilience, for connecting with others and working across differences, and in building solutions for generations to come. Over the course of a year, with the support of mentors and coaches, each Fellow designs and implements an original Field Project addressing a global challenge. Upon graduation, Fellows join a LifeLong Community, where they connect with and support each other while continuing to advance their leadership journeys.
Our Head, Heart and Hands curriculum has three main components:
- Head — Training the mind, exploring inner values, cultivating practices to enhance self awareness
- Heart — Harnessing the intelligence of the heart, deepening compassion, practices for working across differences
- Hands — Acting now, in community, to benefit the world, building unexpected relationships and leading with the mindset of interdependence
85. Interfaith Dialogue and Pilgrimage (Dalai Lama Foundation)
http://furhhdl.org/our-programmes/interfaith-confluence/interfaith-dialogue-pilgrimage/
Interfaith Dialogue and Pilgrimage programme, organized annually, provides a space for young participants to reflect on their own faith traditions, build cross-cultural understanding and encourage spiritual growth through collective exploration.
Participants go through an experiential journey that spans different religious beliefs and practices. While staying in monasteries, ashrams and other spiritual centers, selected participants commit time exploring the basic tenets of Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam and other lesser-known faiths.
They interact with religious philosophers and masters who share with them religious tenets and spiritual practices.
The programme includes lectures, discussions and films on the rituals and history of religious practices.
The programme offers a space for dialogue among diverse faith and cultural traditions to nurture pluralism and active coexistence.
86. Gurukula Program for University Students (Dalai Lama Foundation)
http://furhhdl.org/our-programmes/education-and-ethics/gurukul/
The Gurukul started in 1994 as a month long programme to bring together the two communities of guru (teacher) and chela (student-), and revive the centuries-old relationship of learning exchange between Indians and Tibetans.
For over 20 years, Gurukul, held annually, has been able to provide a meaningful opportunity for the university students in India to live in Dharamasala that is the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration. Participants receive an extended introduction to the different aspects of life of the exiled Tibetan community. It provides a unique exposure to the everyday life, culture, rituals and beliefs of a remarkable community that has shown both resilience and adaptability in the land of its refuge. The Gurukul Programme includes:
- An audience with H.H. the Dalai Lama and H.H. the Karmapa
- A three-day familiarization tour of Dharamsala
- Special sessions of discussions, lectures, and discourses with luminaries of the exile community
- Immersion activities such as; learning a traditional Tibetan craft; song and dance
- Classes on Buddhist philosophy and so on
- An intensive workshop on Universal Ethics
- Meditation sessions in the morning (weekdays) under the supervision of experienced masters
Living in the ‘sacred’ spaces of monasteries and nunneries and observing the Gurus’ (preceptors) way of life at close quarters, the participants are engaged to envision new definitions of success, achievement and fulfillment and serious engagement with the host community and also the unique experience of the diaspora in negotiating with issues of displacement, identity and survival.
The programme strives to encourage participants to critically reflect on their formal educational experiences and provoke them with incentives and motivation to enrich it with an informed altruism that benefits larger sections of humanity.
87. Serve Happiness Foundation Narmada & Other Yatras
http://www.servehappiness.org/betheyatri
Our approach is taking youth on inspirational journeys called Prerna Yatra in different regions and help them not only unravel the ethereal beauty, culture and heritage of our country but importantly imbibe and spread the cultural values and the ensuing happiness onto our persona and the world at large! Our Yatras are one of its kinds to inspire youth, connect with real life role models and walking on the path of dream to bring positive change in society.
88. Just Being Center, Mindfulness Based Counseling Certification (Pune)
http://www.justbeingcenter.com/
Just Being is an initiative that encourages ‘beingness’ or Presence using mindfulness as the base. From this place of ‘beingness’ we inquire into what it means to be fully alive, fully human and allow for action, individual and collective, to emerge.
Learning, living and serving based on the principles of mindfulness, compassion and wisdom is the central offering. We do so through our trainings, services and community outreach programs.
89. University of Life, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra
COMMUNITY (like a joint family) learning & living for sustainable and holistic life. Natural Farming, Adobe and low cost construction, Food lab, Native Cow farm, Documentation of ancient culture & traditions, Lawyers for Earth Justice, Documentation of Flora & Fauna, Product design, Indian cultural music (vocal & tabla), Community work projects.
90. Aarohi Life, Tamil Nadu (near Bangalore)
https://aarohilife.org/
Self-Directed, Open Learning Space for kids and adults of all ages!
92. Lemon-School, Nagpur, Maharashtra
lemon-school.com/
Lemon School of Entrepreneurship (LSE) is a unique, new age Gurukul with a vision to support, mentor and train budding as well as early stage entrepreneurs. The pedagogy being Learning by Doing, Learn through reflections and real life experimentation. LSE is neither affiliated to any University / Governing Body nor provides any recognised degree or diploma. We believe that creation of work portfolio through experiential learning and pre-incubation training is vital for entrepreneurship. We offer entrepreneurship training program and business training workshops. We also work with colleges and universities to build robust ‘Innovation & Entrepreneurship’ ecosystem.
94. Anaadi Foundation, Tamil Nadu
http://www.anaadifoundation.org/
Anaadi Foundation is a Socio-spiritual organization dedicated to Self-Unfoldment of individuals. Anaadi in Sanskrit means “beginningless”. The programs offered by Anaadi Foundation are aimed at inspiring young people to lead a self-reliant, sustainable and fulfilled life. Anaadi Foundation offers educational programs and conducts active research based on Indian Sciences including Indian Astronomy, Ayurveda, Cognitive-Neurosciences from a Yogic Perspective, and Indic ecology. The programs at Anaadi are woven with scientific, historic and psycho-social insights from the Ithihasa and Purana making the content relatable and relevant to a modern audience.
95. Video Volunteers
Video Volunteers started off as a project to match volunteer filmmakers with NGOs needing training. Today, our volunteers are still cherished members of the VV family who have carried out crucial roles while learning about community media, India and working in the nonprofit sector. We are proud of the number of young people who have contributed to VV and then gone on to make a mark in their respective careers, often bringing a media for human rights perspective into their own work.
96. The Shilaroo Project, Himachal Pradesh
https://theshilarooproject.com/
The Shilaroo Project, India’s first Yoga and Pottery retreat, in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Located in a rural setting with the expansive Himalayas as the backdrop, the retreat offers a holistic learning experience through the combination of yogic practices, that have their roots immersed in antiquity and tradition along with Pottery explorations that facilitate a reconnect with creativity through the medium of clay.
97. The Slow School
Slow School designs and curates deeply transformational experiences that promote reflection, self-discovery, authenticity, and creativity and brings these to a range of people in India.
98. Learning Companions Fellowship
https://www.learningcompanions.in/
We partner with different schools and other educational spaces to initiate the process of making classrooms/learning spaces more engaging and effective.
We are working on 4 fronts:
- Collecting, creating, testing and documenting a database of good learning activities, which will be available as an ‘open to use’ online resource, in the native language
- Running training workshops for teachers/facilitators to increase their understanding of how to use these resources, ideas, how to create teaching aids and how to make their classrooms more engaging and effective
- Developing tools and structures for effective follow-up of these training, and to create long-term support systems to help the schools/other organizations to upgrade on the other aspects of creating better learning spaces
- Working on different research and development themes necessary to create a strong knowledge base for the above programs.
99. Unbind Design Fellowship & Journey (s)
https://www.unbind.co.in/
Unbind is a design education start-up that focuses on creating learning experiences for designers and students. We are a group of design enthusiasts that aim to bridge the gap between academics and practice in design.
Design thinking principles form the core of our organisation, and we believe learning is something that happens the most through interactions of a different kind.
100. School for Social Entrepreneurs, India
https://www.the-sseindia.org/
https://www.the-sseindia.org/programme/
You’ve got an idea for a project that helps other people or the environment. How do you get it up and running? That’s where we come in.
The School for Social Entrepreneurs India provides you with 9 months of essential supportas you start up a social enterprise, charity, or business to solve a social or environmental problem in your community.
101. Caux Scholars Program
https://in.iofc.org/caux-scholars-program-asia-plateau
The Caux Scholars Program (CSP) is a three-week residential program offering a multi-disciplinary approach to conflict transformation, transitional justice, and principled leadership.
Twenty students from around the world are selected for this course held in Asia Plateau, India. The program includes approximately 40 hours of academic classes, seven hours per week of “Service for Leadership” practical work, and field trips.
102. Seeds of Peace Camp, Mumbai
https://www.seedsofpeace.org/programs/developing-leaders/
Our leadership development approach begins with a transformational camp session and continues with year-round local leadership programs.
103. Ahimsagram, Jaipur, Rajasthan
https://www.ahimsagram.in/
A community space in Jaipur dreaming of a world of individual empowerment with collective abundance, while also living, learning and sharing Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and organising its life with sustainable practices. We are working with Holacracy as a Governance method and as we hold NVC dear to us, we try our best to look for solutions where everyone’s needs matter and have a space to be heard.
104. Travellers’ University, India
https://www.travellersuniversity.org/
Travellers’ University is a learning community to support individuals who are interested to travel and learn to deepen their knowledge and understanding of themselves and the world, and are looking for alternative choices in Education. It is a platform to nurture curious minds, encourage questions and push one’s thought process by giving them an exposure to traditional knowledge systems, a plethora of sustainable solutions available, varied philosophies, ideologies and realities.
It is for individuals to venture outside their academics and work-life to engage with questions that perturb them and work together to find their answers. One can leverage old wisdom, live those experiences, carry out their own experiments and combine them with today’s technical knowledge to expand their horizons. At Travellers’ University, we believe the whole Universe is a learning ground and that experiences invoke one’s innate curiosity which is fundamental for one’s Education.
105. Aranya — Permaculture India, Forest Farming, Telangana
https://permacultureindia.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1448889475387402/
Aranya Agricultural Alternatives is also very happy to welcome volunteers who are able to make a long term commitment of a minimum of 3 months.
The internship gives permaculture students and practitioners the opportunity to be mentored by Narsanna and Padma in creating an integrated design in rural India.
106. Rainforest Retreat, Coorg, Karnataka
http://rainforestours.com/
The Rainforest Retreat at Mojo Plantation is a unique project that combines eco-tourism with sustainable agriculture and environmental education.
107. Changelooms- Learning and Leadership Journey
https://pravahdelhi.wordpress.com/changelooms/
Pravah is a youth led and youth centric organization with an aim to develop leadership capacities of young people to unleash their ability to bring about transformational social change.
Changelooms encourages, recognizes, and supports young social entrepreneurs to achieve their potential to lead social change initiatives. This yearlong programme provides Changeloomers from across the country with opportunities for intensive learning, networking, mentorship, visibility and fund-raising. This journey is envisaged as one that would explore the construction of identities — others as well as of the self, positively deal with conflicts, become more system aware and learn how to mobilize, inspire others and amplify their impact.
108. Democracy Express by Indian School of Democracy
https://www.indianschoolofdemocracy.org/de
Democracy Express is a 9 days immersive learning journey with 30 young future leaders.
Participants will be exposed to inspiring political leadership and will engage with progressive and unsung heroes within the political landscape across all levels.
The goal is to build a positive narrative around politics, reclaim it as an important avenue of public service, introduce youth to different pathways to politics and build a community of future principled leaders.
109. SBI Youth for India Fellowship
https://www.youthforindia.org/
it is a 13-month long fellowship that enables nation’s youth to work on rural development projects in partnership with experienced NGOs.
The fellowship provides a framework for India’s best minds to join hands with rural communities, emphathise with their struggles and connect with their aspirations.
- Providing educated and passionate urban Indian youth with an opportunity to touch lives and create positive change at the grass root level in rural india
- Providing NGOs working on development projects in rural India with educated manpower whose skill sets can be used to catalyze rural development.
- Promoting a forum for the Program alumni to share ideas and contribute to rural development throughout their professional life.
110. Suman Sangam Farm, Dharwad, Karnataka
Suman Sangam is a song Mother Earth started humming for us in January 1996, when we purchased 17 acres of barren land 10 km from Dharwad in Karnataka India. We named it “Suman Sangam”, meaning Confluence of Flowers and also Confluence of Good Minds. That is exactly what we want our forest-farm to become over time…Mother Earth continues to add a new line every season to our song of Suman Sangam. Come once to listen to this heavenly nay earthly melody!
Volunteer/learn
- Organic/natural farming
Vermi composting
Bee keeping
Seed conservation
Grafting
Building mud, bamboo and tree houses….and much more!
111. Goonj Fellowship
Our aim is to create more doers, following the words of our founder, Anshu Gupta, “Right now India doesn’t need more thinkers, it needs more doers.” We are looking for people with a passion to make a difference. If one is tired of thinking about solutions and wants to do something, then this Fellowship is the place for you!
The one year time frame of the fellowship is about engaging the youth in a deeper way with some real life challenges, tasks and timelines. The Focus is on giving hands on experience and immersion into urban and rural India’s realities.
112. Ashoka Young Changemaker Program
(for youth under 20)
https://www.ashoka.org/en-in/about-ayc
If you want to change the world and you have started young — join Ashoka, the world’s largest network of leading social entrepreneurs.
Ashoka Youth Venture identifies and supports teenagers who have started their own initiatives for addressing social and environmental problems. Becoming an Ashoka Youth Venturer is recognition for you and your work. The selected Youth Venturers are inducted into a global community and gain access to workshops, strategic mentorship, fundraising support, media partnerships, exposure visits and more opportunities to grow themselves and their initiatives.
113. Karmyo Fellowship
https://www.karmyo.org/fellowship
3 months part-time Fellowship for Indian Youth to nurture Innovation, Entrepreneurship Mindset and develop 21st Century Skills
114. Shakti Fellowship: Accelerating Women Change-Makers
https://shaktileadership.com/our-services/fellowship/
There is a dire need to accelerate women intra/entrepreneurs who are also sustainable change agents. Shakti Leadership offers a unique 9-month Fellowship program, jointly certified with the University of San Diego and WIN, to exceptional and inspired applicants who wish to create a game-changing business, social and environmental impact project; and who are willing to undergo the transformational journey needed to do so.
115. Vanvadi (A Forest University/ Eco-Versity) near Mumbai, Maharashtra:
https://www.facebook.com/VanFEVA
116. SatVan, The Valley School, Bangalore
SatVan is a centre dedicated towards facilitating a free, self-motivated and voluntary exploration of different aspects of human life and their relationship with the environment.
Human society today is plagued by a desire for lifestyles that are tilted towards unconscious and immediate gratification. A compassionate, non judgmental space is very essential for us to acknowledge and accept our tendency to live lives driven by the fear, lust and greed of our narrow self.
117. Child Rights Fellowship, Delhi
https://shortlist.net/child-rights-fellowship/
The Child Rights Fellowship (CRF) offers the unique opportunity to work with the Government of Delhi to safeguard children’s rights to survival, protection and education!
118. अनहद — Anahad Community Farm, Telangana
https://www.facebook.com/Anahadcommunity/
A community to learn and grow being connected to Mother Nature : a farm based setup practicing eco-friendly ways of living.
119. Shakti Yogashrama Gurukulam, Lonavala, Maharashtra
Shaktiyogashrama is an ashram encompassing — a cultural gurukul, an earth gurukul and a spiritual gurukul dedicated to study and practice of classical Indian arts and sciences with a spiritual and environmental consciousness.
120. Savidya Foundation, Mysore, Karnataka
Sadvidya Foundation’s mission is to bring the hidden wisdom of ancient Indian arts and sciences to the modern world. It is through this mission that Sadvidya Foundation seeks to promote peace and inner happiness for all humanity.
122. Banyan Roots, Udaipur, Rajasthan
banyanroots.in
Intention:
*To create model for living in the nature with sustainable farming.*
Invitation to all likeminded friends n families, youth, interns, volunteers, future enterpreneurs to be a part of this experiment.
Major focus areas:
* Learning center, through workshops and practical training to develop required skills
* Prakrutik shala (Jugad Shala)for children, value base learning with Inspiring role model personalities.
* Farm to table Value Chain activities for Sustainance
* Cooking food, nutrition, health, healing etc…
*Community living by being stake holder of this complete experiment.
123. Peepal Farm, Himachal Pradesh
https://peepalfarm.org/
We are a group of people with a common goal; to live in a way that we cause minimum harm, and live to do maximum good work. Peepal Farm is a stray animal rescue, a no-till organic farm, and a women-powered small scale social enterprise. It started out as a home that we built with space for injured stray animals to heal & be heard, for people who wanted to help, and for us to be able to organically farm, while reducing our harm.
124. Buda Folklore, Karnataka:
The BuDa programs are conducted at either of these locations to experience the life and the culture of the local community, and to understand the interrelationship between people and nature in each place. BuDa Folklore believes in the experiential learning philosophy and has designed each of the programs whereby one can experience the rich natural and cultural heritage of the Uttar Kannada coastal belt.
BuDa urges more and more people to come, enjoy the festivals and initiatives, the place, go back to slow living and travel down the memory lane of the region.BuDa urges more and more people to come, enjoy the festivals and initiatives, the place, go back to slow living and travel down the memory lane of the region.
125. Naropa Fellowship, Leh & Ladakh
http://www.naropafellowship.org/
The Naropa Fellowship is a one-year, fully-residential, post-graduate,
academic programme focused on creating and nurturing agents of
change who will work towards fostering an ecosystem of
entrepreneurship and growth while preserving the cultural heritage
of Ladakh and the Himalayan region.
126. Bodhi Zendo, Tamil Nadu
Bodhi Zendo is a Zen training center in South India’s Perumal Hills and a meeting point of spiritual interested people coming from all over the world.
127. DISOM — The Leadership School, Panchgani, Maharashtra
https://in.iofc.org/disom-the-leadership-school
The Leadership School is a movement that steadfastly and sustainably facilitates the emergence of a tribe of ‘Servant Leaders’ for our country.
The school is a lived experience of deep democracy. It nurtures leadership that shares responsibilities and decision-making with communities and constituencies with humility, compassion and grace. It fosters leaders who are driven by a spirit of service and see power as a means to achieve shared wellbeing.
128. Sai Sanctuary, Kodagu, Karnataka
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SAI-Sanctuary/1127872410579856
It is spread over an area of 1.2 square km. Gradually the 55 acre forest cover became larger and today covers 300 acres of the land.There were a lot of native trees that already existed there. The couple decided to retain those and follow three important rules: no chopping down of any tree, no human interference and no poachers. After 23 years, their unmatched passion for wildlife and nature has helped them transform the 55 acres of barren land in 1991 into a one-of-its-kind wildlife sanctuary spread over 300 acres, probably the only private sanctuary in the country! The sanctuary also has a beautiful river in the middle that is home to several aquatic species like fishes and snakes. The huge trees and thick forest has also helped several birds like hornbill find their homes. There are over 305 species of birds that visit this sanctuary regularly. The sanctuary, which offers a unique experience to the visitors, runs completely on solar and alternate energy. For days of heavy rainfall in the monsoon, the three small windmills meet the needs of providing enough electricity to the sanctuary.
129. Dhun, Jaipur, Rajasthan
“Dhun aspires to create a 500 acre neighbourhood in suburban Jaipur, that comprises living, working, learning and recreational spaces. It is a new foundation to fully realise what is possible in the realm of living development practices — A neighbourhood built from the inside out, considering the needs of the local ecology, the community, the individual, and finally the sustainability and efficiency of its systems, in that order.
It aims to reimagine and redesign systems related to education, workplace, commerce, and recreation in order to build a living environment that provides people with the freedom, inspiration, and resources to discover and develop their own potential.”
130. One World University:
One World Center is non-profit research organization with a mission to inspire and empower ordinary people to take action against worldwide poverty and climate change. Using an innovative teaching and learning environment, we cultivate social change through the power of ideas and direct action to help build sustainable communities around the world.
131. Baithak Fellowship for Artists:
https://baithak.org/projects/fellowship-program-taalim/
Taalim is a fellowship program offered by Baithak Foundation. This program is an extension of our flagship program, Baithak@Classes.
As a part of this program, Baithak appoints a fellow in the partner school to teach a classical art form (vocal, instrumental or dance). The classes happen once a week. The ideal group size for the program is 10–20 students per batch.
We truly believe that Indian Classical art forms are ‘practicing’ art forms than ‘performing’ art forms. The objective behind this program is expose students to the joy of practicing Indian art forms.
132. Sewa Fellowship
https://www.sewainternational.org/Fellowship/
A 100-week program, the fellowship equips young, bright minds with knowledge, skills and a mindset to serve. With extensive mentor support, the program bridges the needs of grassroots development with a vision for the future.
133. Offbeat Goa
https://offbeatgoa.in/listing-category/volunteer/
We, at Offbeat Goa, are not just observers and encouragers, but active participants in preserving and enhancing the Goa that we all love so much. Our core aim is to build community and promote sustainable businesses and responsible travel, all while giving back to the land that nurtures us. We list and personally share experiences and spaces that are offbeat and sensitive to our ecology, environment and the community