# WPIF and Janastu / Anthillhacks / Crafterspace

WPIF: Workbench Projects Innovation Foundation

>A two pager on why Devarayanadurga, why WPIF to collaborate with Anthillacks? And what difference you think will make with this intervention from the ones in the past to make it sustainable. Pls send it by mid-day tomorrow as this proposal has a deadline for tomorrow evening

Janastu is a 20 years old not-for-profit open source technology research group in Bangalore, with a rural research lab at Durgadahalli near Tumkur. Over the last decade Janastu has been focusing on mesh-networks, crafts and makerspaces at the rural lab so as to bring a culture of community radio, crafts and creative use of tech tools for women and youth in the area. Towards this Crafterspace was setup where women handcrafted with local natural material to weave baskets, mats and lamp shades using areca leaves, banana fibre, coconut fronds and bull rush grass; and the youth from the locality use computer and tech tools such as 3D printers and laser etching routers to develop custom designed patterns and labels. The spirit of Crafterspace is to encourage handmade products in the context of makerspace so as to bring cohesiveness within a community context. And to engage in research and technology development to make sustainable connections between local people, locally available materials and tools, and required techniques and technology. See crafts.janastu.org

Janastu has also initiated Anthillhacks annual event to bring together techies, artists, designers and nature enthusiasts to comingle with rural women and youth as participants who together help create and explore local resources, local myths and heritage, local natural and agricultural spaces, architechture and biodiversity as learning repositories and archives. An infrastructure of Wireless mesh networking and services is setup whereby the event participation encourages a distributed multi-location format. Cooking workshops by community women was streamed to different session locations which became a way to connect sideways and informally in these times of fatiguing online sessions. An electric auto not only provided local transport for material goods but also a learning opportunity for young women of a more distant village. See anthillhacks.in

With these activities that explore the developing infrastructure and services as research lab, Janastu noticed that there is a need for a sustained engagment with the community where a number of local bodies are involved in handholding and supporting these innovative activities. Janastu invited WPIF to review its activities and to work together in strengthening the maker culture and to bring more inclusion of women in creative skills enegagement. WPIF has developed a methodology of initiating activities in a community by involving local governing bodies, CSR funding and engaging with students from nearby institutes. Nearby Tumkur city has 8 engineering colleges, medical and nursing colleges among many social and cultural institutions. Engagement with these insititues can help bring about a culture of healthy interactions and learning from a rural context. This can become a model for rural spaces to help institutes reflect on their academic programs and visaversa inclusiveness.

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ref janastu.org and open.janastu.org/projects