Entrepreneurship
Sagg Eco Village holds Kashmir’s first ecological entrepreneurship festival
The first-of-its-kind festival on Ecological Entrepreneurship, ‘Kashmir Festival for Ecological Entrepreneurship’ was held at Sagg Eco Village in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district during the weekend.
The event was organized by Sagg Eco Village and Mool Sustainability Research and Training Centre, in collaboration with Next Mile Co., a Mumbai-based sustainable business consulting firm.
The Kashmir Festival brought together a diverse set of panel members and participants with varied interests in farming, ecological sustainability and sustainable agri-businesses.
“This was the first edition of the Kashmir festival, and we are grateful and overwhelmed by the excellent response. The event will go a long way by sowing the seeds of ecological entrepreneurship in Kashmir and beyond. The work to organise the next edition of the festival has already begun”
Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village
The event proceedings began with introductions, followed by an ecological tour of the Sagg Eco Village Campus followed by a panel discussion.
The entrepreneurship festival brought together a set of diverse panel members- Abdul Rashid Chadinoo (Managing Partner, Aarafh Foods & Spices), Insha Mir (Founder, EcoKash), Tawfeeq Yousuf (Founder, Bee Tech Kashmir), Dr Maleeha Gul (Dept. of Management Studies, University of Kashmir), Zitin Munshi (Founder, Next Mile Co.) with participating moderator Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village.
The panel discussion started with moderator Fayaz Ahmad Dar inviting the panellists for opening remarks to share some highlights on their entrepreneurial journey after which each of the panellists also shared their top learning advice for the audience.
“Research and mapping is important for building a holistic enterprise in Kashmir and we should also identify the opportunities for creating markets within J&k and outside,” said Abdul Rashid Chadinoo Managing Partner, Aarafh Foods and Spices
Zitin Munshi spoke about her journey for sustainability among small businesses and making it possible through her venture, she also talked about her work with youth in Botswana and Africa that inspired her to work towards business sustainability at the core of the entrepreneurial model.
“There is a need to look for long–term growth of a business, which is the essence of building any successful business,” she said
Insha Mir spoke about two main points that made her enterprise; handicrafts have been invaded by machine craft and there was a lot of negative environmental impact which needed to be addressed in some way. Therefore the focus of EcoKash is to channelise the artisans and do work in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly fashion.
Tawfeeq Yousuf spoke about the entrepreneurial journey in space sustainable beekeeping. He talked about the importance of bringing in new ideas in business and giving consumers the right knowledge about the usage of sustainable products such as raw honey.
Dr Maleeha Gul on the occasion said that there is a need to address the gap between academia and industry so that students can gain practical exposure to entrepreneurship. She hailed the interactive session at the Kashmir festival for gaining practical exposure regarding entrepreneurship.
“This was the first edition of the Kashmir festival, and we are grateful and overwhelmed by the excellent response. The event will go a long way by sowing the seeds of ecological entrepreneurship in Kashmir and beyond. The work to organise the next edition of the festival has already begun,” said Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village.
Over the years Sagg has developed many creative services, spaces, products and programs promoting a healthy and procreative lifestyle that are much appreciated by the participants. These include educational, work and leadership capacity building and consulting programs for individuals, groups and organizations.