At the Maker’s Asylum, we absolutely love collaborating with those who share our passion for working on solutions towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). In January 2023, the BMW Foundation brought together Responsible Leaders from India to reconnect in person, welcome new network members, and sow the seeds for further collaborations within the Responsible Leaders Network. The BMW Foundation aims to promote responsible leadership and inspire leaders to work towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
The gathering took place in Goa and encouraged contemplation of their goals for the new year and reflect on their leadership and vision for a just, peaceful, and regenerative future. The last day of their leadership conclave brought them to the Maker’s Asylum for a day of #MakeBreakCreate action. The theme was “Regeneration” and the plan was to give a physical manifestation to their thoughts and hopes for a “Regenerative Economy”. To mentor them in this task, we rustled up some of the brightest makers we have in our neighbourhood of Moira – David de Souza, Alan Rego, Gunjan Chowdhary, Dheep Caldeira and our very own Vaibhav Chhabra.
The idea was to split the group in to teams, with each team having access to local, discarded raw materials that represented regeneration and recycling. This being Goa, we placed at their disposal materials such as old fishing nets, spent coconut shells, empty beer bottles and pieces of bamboo. Each team had access to a material of their choice. Collectively, by the end of the day, the teams had to collaborate towards building what they named as the “Lamp of Regeneration“, which would be suspended in our very own backyard at the Drill Press Cafe.
The day started off with some words of inspiration and encouragement from our Mentors. This was followed by a very quick and short introduction to the Maker’s Asylum wood working workshop, the safety instructions, and some tool handling 101. The rest of the Asylum crew was standing by to help the teams as they brain stormed and ideated their thoughts.
Before we knew, the Sun set over the Mapusa river and dusk was upon us. Everyone gathered in the backyard, and with the help of some ropes, tall hands and remotely shouted instructions, the “Lamp of Regeneration” was hoisted over a tree branch. A collective “countup” broke out among all the gathered crowd, and at the count of TEN, the lamp was switched on to whoops and shouts of “awesome” and “well done”.
Our Mentor, ace photographer and kickass Maker David de Souza, summed it up beautifully.
“I thought – How are they going to do the Net, how are they going to light it up?”
and answered his own question by proclaiming that
“Y’all did a fabulous job”
An Asylum event like this is never complete without some lights and music, beverages and barbecue, and great conversations late in to the night.
