We are a collective of collectives at the intersection of collaborative research, creative practice, technology, and community engagement. Aruvu Collaboratory LLP was formed to formalise and foster our decade-long engagements and connections with grassroots organisations and collectives across multiple places in Karnataka, India. Our focus is to work towards the following core objectives -
- Facilitate community-led research projects through participatory creative approaches;
- Incubation of local enterprises in collaboration with our place-based collaborating organisations and communities
- Establishing and maintenance of community owned digital infrastructures and networks
- Creative learning experiences and public pedagogy
- Research and Development of technology, tools and services that enable community development (This focus area is new and yet to be active)
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Aruvu. A kannada word, “ಅರುವು” Aruvu, is the “act of observing; attention; regard; heed; cognisance; notice. all that has been perceived or grasped by the mind; learning; enlightenment; knowledge.”
Close Collaborators
- Living Labs Network and Forum - A Kalyana-Karnataka focussed organisation built to bring forward ideas of development that are rooted in the place through collaborative creativity.
- Team YUVAA - A volunteer-led organisation born in Bidar to strengthen Bidar's institutions, civil society and cultural heritage.
- Manesiri - A Farmer Producer Organisation built by Community Health Workers in Channapatna to produce, market and sell organic, nutritional foods and ingredients
Current initiatives
- Samagra Arogya - Samagra Arogya is a long-term place-based collaborative engagement to understand and respond to Social Determinants of Health at the Gram Panchayat level. First phase is situated in 7 Grama Panchayats in Kundapura Taluk namely Vandse, Idur Kunjnady, Hemmadi, Hakladi, Chittur, Aluru, and Keradi.
- Local Techno Futures - Local Techno Futures is a co-experimental, hyperlocal, contextual, Creative visioning, sustained engagement exercise that Aruvu is undertaking in collaboration with various practitioners and young adults from Bidar, Channapatna and Kundapura.
Places of Work
- Channapatna - We have a longstanding collaboration with Community Health Navigators with whom in the past we have set up a Health Narrative Library, A community network, events with Asha workers and District Administration.
- Currently we are building an FPO in collaboration with the Community Health Workers as a form of economic and nutritional resilience infrastructure.
- Bidar - Through our long collective history in the place, we are constantly looking for opportunities to support local efforts of strengthening.
- Currently we are undertaking a rapid assessment of the Naubad Karez - a 14th century water structure that could be vital in drought resilience efforts for the area
- In the larger Kalyana Karnataka Region, we have also signed an MoU with the Central University Karnataka to set up and run a Digital Humanities Lab that aims to use a Creative Urban Practice as co-learning tool for the place
- Kundapura - Working closely with KHPT and the district administration to build and strengthen health infrastructure from the ground up at Gram Panchayat level.
- With KHPT, Palladium and the District Administration - we are setting up frameworks and infrastructures for Palliative Care across 7 GPs in the Region
- Chennai - Newer on our list we are building relationships with Civil Society members here and scoping out opportunities for strengthening and supporting local ventures.
