BADUKU
Centre for Livelihoods Learning
Baduku is committed to empowering socially marginalized youth by equipping them with advanced professional skills and a critical understanding of social dynamics. This approach not only prepares them for successful careers but also enables them to challenge inequalities and foster inclusivity in their workplaces and beyond
Our core values include equity, inclusion, and a commitment to supporting our students even after they transition to employment. With ongoing mentoring, skill enhancement, and advocacy, we help them navigate challenges and sustain meaningful careers.
Baduku alumni not only excel professionally but also inspire change, influencing workplace practices and professional discourses to create a more equitable and sustainable world.
The program focuses on preparing youth for socially critical professions such as sustainable farming, mental health, waste management, media, and teaching—fields that promote social justice and ecological sustainability but often exclude marginalized communities.
Students are then placed in these professions for which they are trained and are enabled to pursue further education in the area of training. They receive one-on-one mentoring, during and after their courses by our experienced and diversified faculties.
Baduku's Pedagogy
At Baduku, we reimagine learning to include experiential, participatory and creative pedagogies. Our inter-disciplinary approach integrates self and social awareness with knowledge and technical skills.
Here, learning happens beyond the classroom. Many of our learning events happen on farms, mountain tops, and even over the internet. Interactions based on pluralistic and diverse living experiences in spaces like the hostel, the library, and the lab, enrich the learning process.
Courses We Offer
BADUKU
Farmers Field School For Sustainable Agriculture
The Farmers Field School for Sustainable agriculture is conducted across different regions of Karnataka. Papers in the course include understanding the self as a farmer, family relationships, community dynamics, structure and organisation of agrarian societies, political transitions in the agriculture sector, sustainability approaches, skills for sustainable farming and farm management.
Leadership Rejuvenation in Agriculture
This Course is for those who are practicing sustainable agriculture and are motivated to work with the farming community. It equips them to understand connections between social structures, law and agricultural crisis. It develops skills, perspectives and leadership to work with farmers.
Coaching for Competitive Exam
This course supports youth in clearing competitive public sector examinations. A substantial section involves general studies paper that includes history, economics, geography, general science and technology, analytical ability and reasoning, Kannada, English, Computers and Mathematics. Along with this, papers on understanding self and society are incorporated.
Waste supply chain and management
Papers in this course include waste management and mismanagement, circular economics, law, politics and governance and management and entrepreneurship. The course aims to enable participants to reflect upon their own experiences with waste, understand histories of waste generation, and waste disposal, the connections between waste and deep rooted social inequities of caste and gender, and learn the most recent innovations in waste management.
Learning Lenses Course
This course is for those who have completed their post-graduation and aspire to become college lecturers. Papers include - the self as a teacher, basic skills in teaching and research, technology for teaching, and prerequisites for teaching practice (support to clear the National Eligibility Test).
Journalism Course
The course includes reading and writing skills, translation, editing, digital media skills, reporting, skills of visual-storytelling and photography, along with building a perspective on mass media's relationship to society.
Mental Health Para-Professionals course
The course trains youth with an understanding of mental health as a socio-political issue, with a rigorous understanding of gender and intersectionality. It equips them with skills to find employment within community-based organisations and non-governmental organisations.
Development Practitioners coursee
The course trains youth with an understanding of the development sector. Equipping them for working in development sector.
Collaborative Courses
Additionally Baduku offers collaborative courses in Journalism, Development Practice, and Teaching for final year students in collaboration with college departments.
Screenwriting and direction course
This Course is for those who want to work in the Kannada Entrainment Industry. It equips them to write and direct films, web series, documentary films. The course will cover understanding social structures and the possibility of developing socially sensitive productions.
Social Justice and Law Course
This course is for those who are doing their final year of LLB or who are doing LLM. It is conducted in collaboration with the Advocates Association. It equips them to understand connections between social structures and Law, and develop skills and perspectives to improve the quality of legal practice.
Alumni Engagement
Samvada's alumni engagement initiatives aim to support lifelong learning, professional growth, and community building among our alumni. Through workshops, meetings, and dedicated networks, we empower alumni to stay connected, enhance their skills, and contribute to their fields.
Regular workshops are conducted to help alumni update their skills and perspectives, ensuring they remain equipped to navigate evolving demands in their professions.
Skill Development through Refresher Workshops
Periodic meetings are facilitated to foster connections among alumni across courses and build a strong rapport with the Baduku faculty.
Alumni Meetings
Each year, ten alumni receive support for pursuing higher education or launching new ventures, ensuring they continue to grow and make a meaningful impact.
Support for Higher Education and Enterprise Development
A yearly gathering of all Baduku alumni brings together participants from various batches and courses. This event creates opportunities for networking, collaboration, and building a vibrant alumni community.
Annual Baduku Alumni Meet
Alumni actively participate in research and dissemination activities, contributing to knowledge creation that influences discourses within their respective fields.
Engagement in Research and Advocacy
Through these initiatives, Samvada fosters a lifelong bond with its alumni, ensuring they remain connected, supported, and empowered to create meaningful change in their personal and professional journeys.
