SEVA
Society, Environment, Values And Attitudes (SEVA) aligned to SDGs (1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)
Society, Environment, Values and Attitudes is a 2-credit course that is entirely live project based. SEVA is a core foundation course at TAPM which aims at introducing all business students at TAPMI to the precepts of sustainability through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line. Projects that correspond to either social responsibility, economic advancement and/or environmental protection and conservation are identified, and students are placed in groups of ten with a faculty mentor to work directly with the client. Principles of design thinking are taught and followed for the entire project process. Each group is given a small grant fund to use to test out prototypes and solutions for the client.
Clients of the SEVA projects range from social entrepreneurs, women micro-entrepreneurs, sustainability experts, non-governmental organisations, local government bodies to corporates and waste management institutions to name a few. SEVA introduces students to live, functioning NGOs, enterprises and individuals who are creating/ attempting to create superior societal /environmental value. Students spend between 75-100 hours on the ground, in class and self-learning mode, to devise solutions to management issues faced by small and micro entrepreneurs, NGOs, the district administration, corporates and other relevant actors. SEVA students will actively explore opportunities to connect small-scale producers to mainstream value chains, to apply modem management principles in different functional areas to decrease operational inefficiencies, improve top-lines, introduce the use of information and communication technologies (digitalisation) and thus improve overall business health of the beneficiary.
