• Kartikeya Sarabhai
  Industrialist & Founder, CEE (Panel Chair)
• Dr Shilpa Das
  Principal Faculty, Interdisciplinary Design Studies at NID and Head, PhD Programme
• Archana Shah
  Founder of Bandhej
• Dr A Srivathsan
  Director, CAU, CEPT, Historian of modern architecture

Kartikeya Sarabhai

Kartikeya Sarabhai is the Chairman of Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd (ASE), a well known business conglomerate with its interest in pharmaceutical formulations, chemicals, electrical, electronic and textiles for the last half-a-century, He has been associated with the operations and management functions of the company and has been monitoring the various areas of the management on a day to day basis.

He has been very actively associated with many companies / institutions of trade, commerce, industry and social service. He played a key instrumental role in the setting up of two dynamic joint ventures, namely, Sarabhai Piramal Pharmaceuticals Ltd (SPPL) and Sarabhai Zydus Animal Health Ltd.

He is also a dedicated community builder and one of the world’s leading environmental educators. He was educated in Cambridge (Tripos in Natural Science) and went on to do post graduate work in development communication at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He is the founder director of the Centre for Environment Education headquartered in Ahmedabad, with 40 offices across India. Mr. Sarabhai’s primary focus is on the greening of India’s formal education system, and initiatives for biodiversity education.

He is a Trustee of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, Mr. Sarabhai is also a member of many committees set up by the Government of India and other organizations.

Mr. Sarabhai was UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development and the Human Habitat (2014-Apr 2018). He was a member of the UNESCO Reference Group for UNDESD (United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development) as well as a member of the International Steering Group for the End of the Decade Conference 2014.

He is co-chair of Policy network of the Global Action Programme on ESD of UNESCO. He is the co-chair of the Global Citizenship Working Group convened by the Brookings Institute, Washington D.C., to examine how Global Citizenship Education is measured, and make recommendations for new ways of assessing learning.

He is the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, a Sage publication. He is also a member of the world environment education congress and also has been associated with the evolution of India’s position vis-a-vis Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working closely with the Indian delegation to the United Nations.

The Government of India conferred Mr. Sarabhai with the Padmashri in 2012, in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished service in the field of Environmental Education. In 2013, he was given the Olive Green Crusader award by IAA (International Advertising Association) for his contribution in the field of environmental education and education for sustainable development. He was honoured with the Sir C.V. Raman Memorial Award in the field of Science and Technology Popularization and Innovation in May 2014. He was awarded the 2016 International Brandwein Medal, in recognition of his lifetime work for inspiring new generations, to experience, embrace and love nature first hand. He was appointed as the International Wetskill Ambassador by Wetskills Foundation, Netherlands during the Finals of Wetskills-India 2017 at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017. In recognition of his contribution and achievements in the protection and sustenance of environment, the Brahma Kumaris conferred him with ‘Guardians of Nature’ Award in its Global Summit held in 2018 in Mount Abu.

Shilpa Das

Dr. Shilpa Das is Principal Faculty, Interdisciplinary Design Studies at NID and Head, PhD Programme. An alumnus of JNU New Delhi (MA) and TISS Mumbai (PhD), she has cumulative work experience of close to three decades in the education, publishing, and voluntary sectors. Shilpa has been the Founding Editor of two prominent publications brought out by the Research and Publications department of NID—The Trellis, a research based publication and a magazine called D/signed. She is the editor, author and creative visualizer of the book “50 Years of the National Institute of Design: 1961-2011??? (2013) and co-editor of the book, “Indian Crafts in a Globalizing World??? (2017).

She has been Visiting Faculty at several universities in India and overseas: notably, Marist College, New York; HTW Berlin; Royal College of Art, London; Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne; School of Art and Design, Lucerne University; Politecnico di Milano, Milan; IIT Bombay; IIT Hyderabad; Delhi University; School of Architecture, School of Planning and School of Interior Design, CEPT, Ahmedabad; PDPU, Gandhinagar; Central University, Gandhinagar; D J Academy of Design, Coimbatore, among others. She has collaborated with faculty teams from Konstfack University, Sweden; Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, and Lucerne School of Art and Design, Switzerland on grant funded research projects.

At NID and elsewhere, Shilpa teaches Comparative Aesthetics; Semiotics and Communication; History of Design; History of Art; History of Objects and Material Culture; Narrative Theory; Indian Story Telling Traditions, Design for Disability; Approaches to Indian Society; Cultural Studies; Form and Emotion; Form and Culture; Disability Studies; Craft Documentation; Literature and Culture; and Research Methodology.

She has been involved in outreach and consultancy projects with different ministries of the government of India at NID. She is on the Core Advisory Board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (US) on projects related to global health and women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH). She is an Advisory Board member of the Mo School Project, Government of Odisha. She also has several published papers, textbooks and books to her credit.

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Archana Shah

Archana Shah has been collaborating with artisans around the country for the last 40 years to create textiles for urban markets.

Soon after graduating from NID, she started a clothing company, BANDHEJ in 1985, a label that focuses on traditional textile skills, and offers a range of eco-friendly, handcrafted, clothing for Indian women with an eastern sensibility. The company was started with the vision of upholding, preserving and promoting the precious skills and inherent knowledge of indigenous artisans through collaborative design interventions. Over the years, through many initiatives and interactions, she has been able to revive and rejuvenate several craft skills, thereby encouraging young artisans to realise that they can earn a decent livelihood by pursuing their traditional vocation.

In 2013, she published her first book, SHIFTING SANDS, Kutch: A Land in Transition. It recounts her personal journey of discovery, over three decades with the land of Kutch, its people and their crafts. Presently, she is working on her next book on the value of handcrafted textiles in present times.

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A Srivathsan

A. Srivathsan is an architect and urban designer, and currently Director, Centre for Research on Architecture and Urbanism, CEPT University Ahmedabad. He was previously the Academic Director of the University, taught for a decade in Chennai, and worked for about eight years as a senior journalist with The Hindu, the national newspaper. Srivathsan holds a PhD from IIT Madras and a Fulbright Postdoctoral fellow. His research includes the themes of urban history and planning, contemporary architectural practices and education. He has extensively published and is a frequent Op-Ed contributor. Srivathsan has recently co-edited the book titled The Contemporary Hindu Temple- Fragments for a History published by Marg.