Skilled India initiative at GD Goenka University

GD Goenka School of Fashion & Design (GDGSoFD) joins hands with Navjyoti India Foundation to hone skills of the rural women from the neighborhood villages.

The school offers UG, PG and PhD programs in Design in academic collaboration with Politecnico Di Milano, Italy. The pedagogy is a blend of cutting edge Italian design and sensibilities combined with sensitivity and deep understanding of Indian craft traditions. This is achieved by way of study trips to Milan, workshops led by Italian professors at the University campus, industry visits in Italy and India, study trips to craft clusters in India and engaging with organizations committed to environmental and social development issues.

The association with Navjyoti India Foundation is one step forward towards acting socially responsible. As a new door of opportunity has opened in India for massive design interventions through the governments key interest in design initiatives like \"Make in India\", \"Digital India\", \" Clean India\" etc. This is an initiative of GDGSoFD towards ‘Skill India’. The focus is on empowering women through knowledge transfer and skill up gradation leading to social and financial benefits.

The two week long workshop that started on January 2nd, 2017 will continue till January 13th, 2017. A group of 25 women from Navjyoti Foundation are attending the training. The training is imparted on the GDGU campus in the well equipped, state of the art labs of SoFD to maximize the positive impact of the training by sharing our resources.

This pilot workshop was conceptualized and initiated by Prof. Promil Pande Dean (GDGSoFD) in collaboration with Prof. Sunil Saxena Dean, School of Mass Communication (GDGSoC). The training workshop is led by Mr. Mohit Bhardwaj, Assistant Professor SoFD, assisted by a team of students from SoFD and SoC and Mr. Sudhir Tanti, lab technician SoFD. The workshop will introduce the women participants to a variety of fabrics, concept of zero waste, quality control and handling of industrial sewing machines.

The methodology followed at the workshop is “learning through making” a hands on learning approach.

The overwhelming response from the women participants and keen interest and eagerness to learn more displayed by them is encouraging us to plan an advanced level workshop in future.