Every time you pinch out on your Google Map screen, details diminish. Some smaller streets disappear while the names of wider roads or neighborhoods emerge. Information needs filtering out at each scale for the ease of reading and understanding a map. The countless hours spent drawing up maps at various scales in my undergrad have contributed to my fascination with this interplay between scale and nuance.
In the months leading up to my Fellowship, I was spending a lot of time thinking about impact at scale. Having just concluded a participatory mapping intervention with a small group of twelve female street vendors, my team and I were actively finding ways to expand our work and place more and diverse communities on the map.
What made the community mapping project possible and authentic was using tools that were familiar to the community. The same women who were initially reluctant to participate in drawing their own maps became eager to walk the neighborhood and document their stories via photos and audio recordings.
So, while I realized the importance of nuanced tools in addressing complex urban problems, especially in a participatory methodology, I continued to grapple with the challenge of retaining nuance while scaling up. I kept circling back to the same dilemma—does scaling always necessitate a standardized process, risking the loss of nuances?
With these lingering questions in mind, I started my Fellowship at YUVA, a non-profit development organization designing and implementing large-scale grassroots programs in Mumbai and beyond.
During my initial months, I delved into YUVA’s experiential learning program, the Anubhav Shiksha Kendra (ASK). Started in 1997, the program now runs in 21 districts across Maharashtra. Its framework and processes are designed for youth to be able to participate in local governance to facilitate change from within the system.
I am personally driven by exploring the stories behind data and numbers. My role has not only let me study the larger process in depth but also interview twelve different individuals and youth groups who have undergone personal and professional transformations by being a part of the program. Zooming into personal narratives, I uncovered stories of resilience and transformation. I learned about their histories, what motivated them to join this program, how they have transformed in the process and how they imagine their future. Coupled with a deep understanding of the history and evolution of the program, I summarize my three key takeaways about scaling impact:
1 | Ensuring sustainability: ASK’s tiered participation structure allows for the gradual introduction of youth to leadership roles. Members have opportunities to progress from the community level to sub-district and district levels, facilitating personal and community growth as they learn new skills and engage increasingly with the issues that affect them.
After local leaders are trained, YUVA takes a backseat while they spearhead the process in their respective communities — which is how sustainability is ensured. It echoes YUVA’s core belief in “jinka sawal unka netritva” (people who are facing the issues should be the ones leading the solution).
Numerous young individuals have grown through this program and gone on to become agents of change. For instance, Pranaya Patade, who comes from Mumbai’s Aarey forest area, is now pursuing a Master’s in Development Studies while doing activism work, mobilizing people and fighting for the rights of forest-dwelling communities. Similarly, there’s Swapnil Shinde, who grew up in an informal settlement facing bullying from other boys and is now leading an initiative for mental well-being among young basti residents. Or, Rinku Bhatkar from Murtijapur village in Vidarbha, who despite facing financial challenges and caste-based injustices, excelled in academics and sports and went on to become a Sports Minister in the Youth Parliament (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports) and is encouraging more and more girls to enter sports.
There are many more such inspiring stories of resilience, highlighting changes that are not only tangible but also implicit to individuals and extend to larger communities. Learning about them has made me aware of the possibilities that exist if young people are offered a platform to find their voice.
2 | Having room for flexibility: This model is replicable but flexible enough to adapt to different contexts. The program’s scalability and impact are evident, with its footprint expanding across 21 districts in Maharashtra, reaching approximately 11,870 young people over the last three years.
The program extends to urban and rural youth from marginalized caste, gender and income groups, building grassroots connections through local collectives where youth can interact, form networks, and enhance their capacities for initiating change. With the intent to build the capacities of young people to become concerned, responsible citizens, it encourages young people to assert their rights and uphold their responsibilities.
3 | Practicing consistency and involving other stakeholders: Working with people requires patience and consistency. There is often societal judgement and backlash from families to send their kids, especially girls, to participate in the program as it requires spending much time outside in the public realm. It takes consistency, convincing, and demonstration of intent to gain their support.
ASK prioritizes deliberate efforts such as residential sessions and field activities like community mapping and volunteering in relief work, fostering confidence among girls to navigate their surroundings freely and negotiate with families for increased freedom to get out of their homes. Despite facing criticism from members of the community, some girls, like Saloni from the Zunzhar Yuva Parishad in Valai Pada basti, found solace in family support. She says, “I used to come home and share my learnings with my family. They became supportive as they realized I was learning important things. If my family supports me, then why should I worry about what others (the larger community) say?”
Together, young girls and boys from the Zunzhar group are working at the frontlines for basic infrastructure provisions in their basti. They are tackling issues of inadequate sanitation, lack of waste management systems, unavailability of regular bus services, broken street lights, and much more. Through a systematic approach and working in tandem with the local police, Nagar Sewak, BMC officials and other local authorities, they are resolving these issues one step at a time.
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Indeed, when we zoom out to implement interventions at scale, we often need to standardize processes and select a few parameters for efficiency and manageability. This standardization, however, can sometimes flatten out the nuances of local contexts, leading to solutions that are less effective or even counterproductive.
Yet, it’s not necessarily true that scale and nuance are always mutually exclusive. While scaling interventions does require some degree of standardization, designing frameworks that allow for flexibility and adaptation to local contexts, such as the Anubhav Shiksha Kendra, is possible.
Finding the sweet spot between standardization and nuance is indeed a challenging task, but it’s not insurmountable. It requires a commitment to iterative learning and adaptation, as well as a recognition that one size does not fit all when it comes to addressing complex urban problems.
My experience in closely witnessing people’s stories and learning about the program has underscored the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders, experimenting with adaptable models, and embracing feedback to achieve impactful and nuanced solutions that are both effective at scale and sensitive to the complexities of local contexts. Just as in map navigation, it’s about finding the right balance between zooming out for broad impact and zooming in to capture the intricate details that shape communities.
