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Students from 鶹Ƶ and India’s Ashoka University explore urban challenges in Pune

Undergraduate course in partnership with Ashoka University, near New Delhi, is one of many initiatives now facilitated by the 鶹Ƶ India Foundation
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Students from 鶹Ƶ and Ashoka University accompany waste pickers who belong to the SWaCH collective in Pune, India – part of a course offered through the 鶹Ƶ India Foundation and School of Cities India (photo courtesy of Reyansh Lokare)

Samantha “Sam” Guevara says accompanying two waste pickers in Pune, India as they went about their daily work offered a window into the social dynamics of the city of more than seven million.

“What interested me was the stigmatization that waste pickers tend to receive from the general public juxtaposed with the pride they have in their work,” says Guevara, a fourth- year student at the University of Toronto who is pursuing a double major in human geography and political science.  

The workers she joined belong to , a co-operative of self-employed waste collectors who are contributing to the region’s environmental and financial well-being. 

Guevara, meanwhile, is one of nine students from 鶹Ƶ who, along with nine students from India’s Ashoka University, a private liberal arts institution near New Delhi, recently explored three city-building projects identified by Indian non-profit and civil society organizations as part of a 鶹Ƶ undergraduate course. 

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Students from 鶹Ƶ and Ashoka gather at the Centre for Development Studies and Activities in Pune for a lecture by a local consulting firm (photo courtesy of Reyansh Lokare)

Offered through the 鶹Ƶ India Foundation and , the International  course also saw students join guides for walking tours in Mumbai, attend lectures and develop what Aditi Mehta, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in urban studies at Innis College, calls “critical consciousness.”

The course is one of numerous activities facilitated in recent months by the 鶹Ƶ India Foundation, a partnership between 鶹Ƶ and Tata Trusts. Others include: a pitch competition and incubation program with , an incubator for social impact startups, that saw 鶹Ƶ faculty members participate on the technical jury that ; and research projects that bring together 鶹Ƶ faculty members and India-based partners to work on building more resilient and sustainable cities.

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Kunjpreet Arora, co-founder and director of  India-based brick and paver upcycling startup Angirus, delivers a presentation at a social launch event (photo courtesy of Jake Karpouzis)

For the students involved, Mehta says questioning “why things are the way they are” and understanding their place in the world is a crucial part of their education – and one of the many takeaways they will bring back to Toronto.  

“It’s about seeing how things are done in the east and thinking about how we can bring some of this problem solving back to the west,” says Mehta, who accompanied the students to India.

Jake Karpouzis, a fourth-year student in public policy and urban studies, spent his time exploring how the makeshift parking lots and garbage dumps beneath city overpasses, or flyovers, in Pune can be transformed into more valuable spaces that better serve surrounding communities.  

“We're putting together a blog of the trip so the various organizations involved can read about it and take those experiences back to the classroom,” says Karpouzis, adding that he was excited by the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in urban studies in another country.

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Ashoka University students speak to a vegetable vendor under a flyover in Pune (photo courtesy of Jake Karpouzis)

Kaitlyn Chan, a fourth-year urban studies student, concentrated on transgender studies while in India.  

“Our program focused on skill development for the transgender community in Pune,” Chan says. “That includes access to government interventions, employment opportunities, self-efficacy and creating safe spaces.” 

Professor Mehta, who created much of the programming with the 鶹Ƶ India Foundation, says the course was often life-changing for 鶹Ƶ students.

“The Indian students were amazing. They really took it upon themselves to be hosts for the Canadian students and they just kept asking, ‘When can we come to Toronto?’,” she says, adding that she is working on a reciprocal learning exchange in both countries.

Karan Singh, a professor of computer science and the associate director of School of Cities India, sees the capstone course as an opportunity to further strengthen 鶹Ƶ’s global reputation.

“We’re looking at 鶹Ƶ as a global brand and in India that is increasingly evident,” he says.  

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Professor Aditi Mehta (second from left) with students from 鶹Ƶ and Ashoka University and SWaCH workers on the streets of Pune (photo courtesy of Reyansh Lokare)

Andrea Russell, director of international relations in 鶹Ƶ’s Office of the Vice-President, International, says she’s thrilled with how the experience resonated with 鶹Ƶ students. 

“It’s a wonderful example of global collaboration and an amazing opportunity for our students to increase their global fluency.”

 

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