National Meet 2018 : ‘Going Green – The Way Forward’
At its National Meet 2017 held in New Delhi, The Crafts Council of India presented and discussed the building of an uninterrupted green value chain in crafting products, from raw material to processes and post production practices. The Craft Council’s National Meet 2018 to be held in Chennai on April 4th 2018 will build upon the theme of 2017.
The discussions at the 2017 meet focussed on the need for eco friendly crafts that communicate the competitive advantage in today’s market, and for national systems that respect and encourage the sector’s ecological strength and potential. While globalisation has brought unparalleled opportunities for the crafts sector, it also makes stringent demands for compliance to standards both in world markets and at home. However, most of the standards have been developed with organised mass production in mind. Artisans are seldom involved in the development of compliance requirement or aware of what is expected of them. A critical learning that emerged from the National meet 2017 is the need to challenge this situation with standards and practices specific to small scale hand productions and to give artisans access to knowledge, incentives, technologies and testing facilities that can enable Indian crafts to be and remain green.
Attention at the National meet 2017 was on directions which could help the CCI’s councils and its partners towards the research, experimentation and action thatare essential to sustain India’s crafts as green.
The argument so far has been that the craft sector is environmentally green and more sustainable because of its dependence on natural materials, low use of fossil fuels and decentralised patterns of production. Reconciliation is sought to be achieved between environmental and economic concerns. Being green is no longer a cost of doing business; it is a catalyst for innovation, new market opportunity, and wealth creation. These assumptions need to be backed by evidence, and that is what National meet 2018 hopes to achieve.
The following participants of National Meet 2018 will present case studies evidencing successful green initiatives introduced in their sectors.
Going Green: Community based sustainable business practices in the crafts sector – by Ms. Madhura Dutta, Executive Director, AIACA, New Delhi
Eco friendly tanning practices – by Dr.B.Madhan, Principal Scientist, CLRI, Chennai
Bamboo for sustainable future: Thinking beyond and reinventing tradition – by Sandeep Sangaru, Furniture Designer, Bangalore
Visioning of Ajarak – by Dr.Ismail Khatri, Mastercraftsperson, Bhuj
Purdilnagar: design, research, intent and approach – a case study – by Neelima Hasija, Faculty, Ceramic & Design, NID, Ahmedabad
This will provide an opportunity for experts, artisans and stake holders in the ‘Green Craft’ area to exchange views and come up with a road map for the future course of action.