Who we are
​​Sensing Local Foundation is an ‘Urban Living Lab’ (ULL) based in Bengaluru, which is to be a site for city observation, learning and innovation with a specific focus on improving the state of environment and public health. As a model, it serves as an in-between-step that formalizes learning and experimentation in the urban context to achieve impact at a faster pace for the largest section of society. The prime thrust of the Living Lab is to behave as a catalyst for the ecosystem of city’s decision makers, and ‘break through’ the trap of repetitive, fragmented, myopic actions.​
Methodology
EXPERIMENTATION
Getting to know the 'current state' and designing possible 'future states'
Scenario
Building
Baselining the issue
EXPLORATION
Real-life testing of one or more proposed 'future states'
Building
Consensus
Piloting
Solutions
EVALUATION
Assessing the impact of the experiment with regards to the 'current state' in order to iterate the 'future state'
Strategy for scale
Assessing Impact
Guiding Principles
Humanizing the Issues
Keep everyday experience of people at the centre of a problem solving process
Active experimentation
To test ideas and pilot solutions in real life settings before implementation
Working across governance scales
Working at the ward, city and state level to ensure sustainability of solutions
Building multi-sectoral partnership
Building collaborations, bringing diverse viewpoints, and promote systemic thinking
Public making of projects
Involving people in co-creation of solutions to build ownership and inclusiveness
Bringing policy to the doorstep
Aligning local interventions with national/state policies to ensure impact
Founders
Sobia Rafiq
Co-founder
Sobia is an Architect and Urbanist, whose main focus is on tackling Solid Waste Management issues in the city of Bengaluru, through introducing systems thinking, strategic planning, data analytic & GIS mapping.
She has also led Smart City plans for Tumakuru and Thiruvananthapuram and projects under Swachh Bharat Mission in India. As an architect, she has worked primarily in the social sector, with organizations like NIVASA, S3IDF and Selco Foundation. She is originally from Bengaluru, India and has completed her B.Arch from Manipal University and MSc. in City Design and Social Science from the LSE Cities, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK.
Ankit Bhargava
Co-founder
Ankit is an architect and urban planner with 8 years of experience in projects in relating to spatial planning, urban governance, system design, and architecture. His core interest is understanding how do we disrupt the trajectory of development of Indian cities that is set up in a way to invariably perpetuate environmental exploitation and stresses that deepen social and economic inequalities and hinder chances of increasing quality of life for all. He is also deeply interested in using systems thinking and participatory processes to unpack complex problems and shape new perspectives to drive systemic change. He has completed his Masters in Urbanism from TU Delft, Netherlands.
Ankit Bhargava
Co-founder
Ankit is an architect and urban planner with 8 years of experience in projects in relating to spatial planning, urban governance, system design, and architecture. His core interest is understanding how do we disrupt the trajectory of development of Indian cities that is set up in a way to invariably perpetuate environmental exploitation and stresses that deepen social and economic inequalities and hinder chances of increasing quality of life for all. He is also deeply interested in using systems thinking and participatory processes to unpack complex problems and shape new perspectives to drive systemic change. He has completed his Masters in Urbanism from TU Delft, Netherlands.