Living Labs Institute

Fellows

Vidya HP

I am a professional Social Worker specializing in community development, with a passion for learning through practice and active engagement with communities.

vidya@livinglabs.institute

I am a professional Social Worker specializing in community development, with a passion for learning through practice and active engagement with communities. My journey began with an academic focus on social work in community development, which inspired me to work closely with people at the grassroots. Over the years, I have engaged in diverse sectors, including women’s empowerment, education, health, child rights, and juvenile justice, striving to bring meaningful change at the community level. As I am passionate about working in and with communities, I have also gained valuable experience in administration and coordination. This has strengthened my ability to effectively coordinate and manage the initiatives I take up.

Situated Practice

My practice began in a place that was not my own, but over time it became connected to my emotions and shaped my journey. Now, I practice in my native place, where my work is deeply rooted in both my heart and my surroundings. Here, every context and every matter is closely connected to me, making my practice a lived experience deeply linked to my community. Each day of practice is a new learning for me, and I also love to facilitate opportunities for those who are ready to learn with me and experience my village through the school of community well-being.

Place-based Engagements

At present, I am a Fellow at the Aruvu Collaboratory, working in the field of community palliative care and with women’s groups, while also exploring the social determinants of health in micro-contexts. More than just work, this journey has been a continuous process of learning with and from the community through participation and collaboration.

Courses

  • Past

    Mapping Community Systems of Wellbeing

    A Geo-spatial mapping of formal & informal systems of community health and wellbeing, annotated with stories of lived experiences that highlight the practices of negotiation & navigation

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Tribal Settlements
    • Micro-Context: Agrarian Practices
    • Learning Module: Workshop
    • Trimester: 01
  • Past

    Community Health Systems

    Introduces the formal & informal health systems that exist in Kundapura and Bidar (as specific cases), and how people navigate across these systems to manage their health and wellbeing

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Asha Workers
    • Micro-Context: Community Based Healthcare Practices
    • +1 More Micro-Context
    • Place: Kundapura
    • Place: Yelahanka
    • Learning Module: Primer
    • Trimester: 01
  • Past

    Invisible Labour - Visible Consequences: Understanding women’s collective, labour and participation in local governance systems

    9 – 13 Mar 2026

    This workshop focuses on learning about women’s role and labour in Sanjeevini Sanghas, Panchayats, Krishi Kendras, Grama Panchayat and other PRIs that have been crucial to the development and wellbeing of people and places.

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Agricultural Practices
    • Micro-Context: Sanjeevini Sanghas
    • +1 More Micro-Context
    • Place: Kundapura
    • Learning Module: Workshop
    • Trimester: 03
  • Past

    Panchayats & Participatory Futures: Local Self-Governance & Water in Aluru

    8 – 11 Mar 2026

    How does a Gram Panchayat - the fundamental unit of democratic self-governance, and closest to the people - plan, build, maintain and sustain infrastructures of and for its public?

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Tribal Settlements
    • Learning Module: Make-a-thon
    • Trimester: 03
  • Past

    Making to understand Panchayat

    18 – 21 Dec 2025

    How does a Gram Panchayat - the fundamental unit of democratic self-governance, and closest to the people - plan, build, maintain and sustain infrastructures of and for its public?

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Tribal Settlements
    • Learning Module: Make-a-thon
  • Past

    Local culinary practices, nutrition and wellbeing

    11 – 16 Oct 2025

    Cooking is more than taste, it is everyday knowledge of care, health, and sustenance shaped by place, culture, and community. In this travelling studio, we learn by tasting, listening, and moving through kitchens.

    • Schools For Concentration: Community Wellbeing
    • Micro-Context: Fishmarkets
    • Micro-Context: Food Habits In Sa Cluster
    • +1 More Micro-Context
    • Place: Gangolli
    • Place: Kundapura
    • Learning Module: Travelling Studio
    • Trimester: 02