The second season of Mahindra’s Spark the Rise begins on 17th September 2012. See the Spark The Rise journey video here.
The Rise Blog said, "In order to re-ignite conversations and spread the word, we’re conducting an exciting three-city tour of India."
Three ‘Be the Spark’ Meet-Ups were held over the last three Saturdays in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Each meet had a different topic of discussion and some of the leading social entrepreneurs, change-makers and change-agents in each city were invited to be a part of panel and general discussions on the topic. Usha Rajagopalan from PNLIT was one of the panellists at the Bangalore meet and Arathi Manay from PNLIT attended the Mumbai meet as a guest.
- Mumbai, 15th September 2012 – How do we create an environment that encourages people to become entrepreneurs, especially recent college graduates?
With Season One (Aug 2011 – Apr 2012) having been quite a success with
– 1,346 projects showcased on http://www.sparktherise.com/
– 48 grants of Rs 4 lakh each and 4 grand finale prizes totally Rs 1 crore awarded, Season Two is expected to be even better.
Improvements and refinements have been made to the listing of ideas/projects, voting and awards.
PNLIT’s Puttenahalli Lake nurturing project was one of the 48 projects that received a grant during Season One, and PNLIT went on to be one of the 18 finalists who vied for the finale prizes.
Spark the Rise has helped PNLIT in building awareness of the importance of water bodies and public open spaces, and the instrumental role of local citizens in safeguarding their environments. Improved visibility has resulted in more volunteers, sponsorship of specific items for PNLIT and more importantly, an active "lake saving movement" in Bangalore.
With the grant received, PNLIT has put up important signage at the lake, planted about 100 more trees and shrubs to attract more birds and insects, enriched the soil, installed rain water harvesting infrastructure for water supply, got uniforms for the staff, bought required gardening tools and equipment, cleared a large portion of the lake bund of unwanted material, developed additional waste management/ composting facilities, installed exercising infrastructure… and we have plans and some money left to do some more to nurture Puttenahalli Lake back to its pristine glory!
If you know anyone who has a promising idea or project in progress, encourage them check out the Spark The Rise Website. It may help them become a Spark!
"Spark the Rise is a platform whose core purpose is to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world-to enable them to Rise. Spark the Rise enables lots of people to drive positive change by bringing them together behind innovative ideas and awarding the grant money needed to put them into action. Spark a fire-start a movement."
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