Zero Project India

Building bridges between the global network and South Asia

The Zero Project regionalizes its activities to important world regions outside Europe, with the goal of building bridges between the global disability inclusion community and regional innovation ecosystems.

In 2023, the Zero Project joined forces with Youth4Jobs and EnAble India in a strategic partnership to advance innovation processes in India through the “Zero Project India”. Each of the strategic partners contributes a wealth of experience and engages their respective innovation networks to advance the implementation of the UN CRPD.

 

Strategic Partners

The Zero Project India Conference 2024

Building Bridges between Global Networks and Innovations

The annual conference hosted by Youth4Jobs in New Delhi is a unique regional forum. It brings together members of the global Zero Project Network, Zero Project Awardees, and local/regional stakeholders, decision makers, and innovators from India and the whole of South Asia.

#ZeroConIndia24 took place on September 19-20, 2024 in New Delhi.

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Explore #ZeroConIndia24 through this photo gallery!

The ceremonial lighting of a lamp by Meera Shenoy and Michael Fembek
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Staff hand out name tags to local and international participants; front and center is an international participant Asian background receiving his tag from one of the staff.
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Martin Essl poses with two conference participants in the reception area.
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Anja Günther of the Zero Project welcomes one of the international delegates at the conference reception area
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The conference moderator is seen here in a close-up; she uses a wheelchair and seems very confident addressing the audience; in the background a sign language interpreter can be seen on a large screen.
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A view of the conference room - people are seated around large round tables and look towards the stage.
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Chief Guest Rajesh Aggarwal delivering his speech; he's at a lectern looking to the audience; the Zero Project India Conference logo and a sign language intetrpreter can be seen in the background, indicating the accessibility provisions at the event and the context for this speech.
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a large ZeroConIndia panel is depicted here; there are mostly but not exclusively local speakers; a woman is speaking into a microphone, addressing the audience.
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Two female conference participants immersed in a conversation in the conference room. One is seated with a laptop in front of her, the other standing next to her talking. In the background a large number of other participants can be seen.
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A ZeroConIndia panel with local and international speakers
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The Zero Project Bangalore Technology Forum

Food for Thought 2024

Organized by EnAble India, the Food For Thought event brought together outstanding assistive technology solutions and interested parties with the aim of building international bridges to support these innovations and impact investments.

The event took place on September 23, 2024 in Bangalore.

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Discover some of the 'Food for Thought 2024' highlights!

A group photo showing all participants - around a hundred people of different backgrounds, with and without disabilities.
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Martin Essl, Shanti Raghavan, and Dipesh Sutariya handing over the Discovery Award to winner Rigzin Tamchos on stage.
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A photo showing the audience seated around large round tables; they appear to be of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. At the front, there are three participants taking notes and looking attentively towards the stage; indicating the diverse audience of local and international guests with and without disabilities, and how they attend to learn and exchange ideas and solutions.
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A close-up of Martin Essl as he gives his speech during the event.
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The photo depicts one of the panels: Den Mukherjee can be seen to the left speaking; the other five members of the panels smile; Michael Fembek is taking over the mic from Sameer, apparently getting ready to respond to Den.
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Three participants pose for a photo and smile into the camera; representing the collaborative and friendly atmosphere of the event.
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A group of five participants - men and women - pose for a photo and smile into the camera; this is representative of the collaborative and friendly atmosphere at the event.
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Four members of the audience pose for a picture in front of a large LED screen with the event logo; they appear proud and happy to participate in this event.
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Explore more Zero Project India initiatives

Zero Project Database:

Discover solutions from India

Under the umbrella of the Zero Project India, a range of other activities are implemented conjointly, complementary, or by one of the partner organizations; yet, always in alignment with the Zero Project’s mission of finding and sharing solutions that remove barriers for persons with disabilities in the areas of education, employment, accessibility, independent living & political participation, and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies):

 

WE-Do Initiative

Youth4Jobs

The WE-Do Initiative is an integrative part of the Zero Project India Conference. Through its WE-Do initiative, Youth4Jobs responds to issues of equity and intersectionality that need to be urgently addressed.

The Zero Project fully supports the WE-Do initiative to remove barriers for women-entrepreneurs through a collaborative and solution-oriented approach. The WE-Do initiative will also be represented at the Zero Project Conference 2025 in Vienna.

Grassroots Academy

Youth4Jobs

The objective of Youth4Jobs’ “Grassroots Academy” is to build grassroot leadership of youth with disabilities; providing them with the tools for transformation required, especially in low-income countries. 

The Zero Project fully supports this initiative. The Grassroots Academy will be part of both the Zero Project India Conference and the Zero Project Conference 2025 in Vienna.

Zero Project Scaling Solutions Programme

EnAble India

EnAble India is joining the Zero Project Scaling Solutions Programme in 2024, as a Funding Partner alongside the Essl Foundation, Fundación Descúbreme, GIZ, and Atos. The programme cycle 2024/2025 will see each of the Funding Partners select three “Scaling Fellows”, which will be supported to scale and replicate their innovative solutions in new countries and regions. 

The Scaling Fellows selected by EnAble India will have a focus or its origin in India.

Disabilities Innovative Solutions Hub (DISH)

EnAble India

The Disabilities Innovative Solutions Hub (DISH) is a centralized platform that supports the dissemination of grassroots solutions, with the goal of enabling others to apply them effectively.

The Zero Project fully supports the DISH platform and its use of AI-driven search capabilities. 

Discovery Awards

EnAble India

The Discovery Awards are a global recognition of grassroot innovations created by and for persons with disabilities. The nomination and selection process are organized and managed by EnAble India, with the support of a consortium of partners. The Zero Project fully supports this initiative and features as one of the partner organizations for the Discovery Awards.

Each year two innovators are recognized through Discovery Awards. The laureates are invited to the Zero Project Conference in Vienna, Austria, to present their innovation and receive the award.

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