Participant Reflections: My path from ideals to impact on the Circular Economy Journey Bengaluru

For me, the Circular Economy Journey was an incredible opportunity that helped me bridge the gap between my idyllic activism and practical entrepreneurship. It was an eye-opening journey that showed me how business acumen could amplify my impact rather than compromise my values. Throughout the two weeks, I was exposed to new ideas, frameworks, and tools that could help me bring my ideas to market. It meant having the ability to move beyond activism and have the ability to watch my ideas unfold. 

Amongst the many good things about the programme, I was really motivated by being around other like-minded people coming from various backgrounds, taking out significant time to learn, share, and grow together to create a more equitable future. Having access to a community with similar ideologies not only created a sense of camaraderie but also exposed me to new ways of thinking and understanding various perspectives. Another thing I’m extremely grateful for is the ability to network with pioneers and current industry leaders. The programme facilitators are seasoned professionals who broke down complex subjects for us with ease, fostering a positive attitude filled with knowledge-sharing.

The 3 main takeaways for me were:

• There Are No Perfect Solutions, Only Trade-offs (this is my new mantra).
• Systems Thinking: A powerful tool that enables us to view systems from a macro lens, understanding the parts of a system and their relationships with each other.
• It does not matter if you’re lacking certain technical skills to start a venture, commit to the idea and outsource the rest.
• The solution to achieving circular models is as complex as the problem.

I plan to use my learnings from the Journey Programme and refine my understanding on concepts like systems thinking, and hopefully develop a business acumen to ultimately create a solution that addresses organic waste.

Kudos to the team that made this possible. It was an incredible learning experience that challenged me in several ways while validating many of my internal dialogues.

Words by Paras Bhatia