Livelihood Connect

What It Is

The Livelihood Connect platform comprises a knowledge portal, innovation workshops, demonstration grants, large-format conferences and print publications, to innovate, collaborate and enable solution sustainability, scalability and replicability, for livelihoods and employability.

Against each of the arms:

• Practices, methodologies and processes to enable need-based program design with clear and targeted outcome mapping
• Metrics and standards to support continuous program assessment and improvement
• Case studies of “successful” and “unsuccessful” interventions as inspiration and learning towards overcoming challenges and maximising grassroots impact
• Insights into the current ecosystem and existing policies from the perspective of program design and evaluation
• An environment for meaningful interaction between resource seekers and resource providers
• Multiple channels for information dissemination and stakeholder communication.

What We Did

Livelihood Connect Action Group 1 Workshop, held in Bangalore on 26-27 November 2009, was the first in a series of workshops that brought together recent research, stories from the field (narrated through film and photography), expert views and a framework for innovation that combined expertise from design, technology and pedagogy.

Who We Reached

We created a platform for active, continuous knowledge sharing and collaboration in the employability space, which provides value to diverse stakeholders (donors, program implementers, researchers, academics, teachers, trainers, livelihood seekers, students, and others).

With these stakeholders, we:

• Shared understanding of scenarios, gaps and trends in the “employability in India” ecosystem
• Built avenues for cross-learning and synergy between multiple programs
• Forged concrete partnerships for funding, sharing of resources and program management
• Devised standard metrics and benchmarks for program monitoring and evaluation
• Found tangible market linkages to provide livelihood seekers with channels for gainful employment
• Synthesized lessons learnt and suggestions for policy-makers
• Created inclusive and transparent channels of participation, allowing knowledge sharing and communication from multiple sources