FLO Ahmedabad, under the leadership of Chairperson Ms. Usha Jaiswal, in collaboration with Rotary Club Ahmedabad Sarvam, SHE Women Community, and Suzuki Kiran Motors, with venue support from Hyatt Regency and True Story. The three-day initiative celebrated World Environment Day and encouraged a culture of Repair, Reuse, Repurpose, Refurbish, and Upcycle. Led by Project Leads Dr. Geetika Saluja and Sonali Shah, the initiative brought together environmental experts, sustainability practitioners, traditional artisans, women entrepreneurs, NGOs, students, professionals, and conscious citizens on a single platform.
Through workshops, live demonstrations, exhibitions, and interactive engagements, the event explored practical, everyday ways to integrate sustainability into daily life. A key highlight was the direct interaction between visitors and traditional artisans — participants sought advice on repairing and restoring personal items, learned hands-on techniques, and exchanged contacts for future work involving alterations, embroidery, restoration, and custom upcycling projects. This engagement not only strengthened public understanding of circular economy principles but also generated real visibility and livelihood opportunities for the artisans themselves.
The event was conceptualised and curated the three-day initiative around the themes of green tech, circular economy, STEM, and MSME empowerment. Another major highlight was the Women Entrepreneur Showcase, giving Ahmedabad-based women entrepreneurs a platform to display and sell products spanning sustainable lifestyle items, handcrafted goods, home décor, fashion accessories, and local brands. Participating entrepreneurs reported encouraging responses from visitors, translating into meaningful sales, expanded visibility, and new networking and business opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- Repairing, restoring, and reusing products significantly reduces waste generation
- Traditional artisans play a vital, often overlooked role in environmental sustainability
- Natural, low-impact alternatives can replace environmentally harmful practices
- Sustainable waste management is achievable at both household and community levels
- Direct market visibility significantly benefits women entrepreneurs
- Environmental conservation can directly create economic opportunities and strengthen local livelihoods
- Sustainability is most impactful when environmental, social, and economic goals are pursued together
- Artisan-visitor interactions generated real, ongoing livelihood opportunities beyond the event itself
- NGO beneficiaries gained new market visibility and audience reach through the showcase
- The initiative strengthened collaboration among entrepreneurs, artisans, NGOs, and conscious citizens
Impact & Outcome
Across three days, The Re…MOVEMENT successfully wove together environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship, livelihood generation, skill preservation, and community empowerment into a single, cohesive experience — proving that conscious, everyday choices can create ripple effects across economic and social lines, not just environmental ones. The initiative achieved a community reach of 2,500+ (in-person and social media outreach).