~ India’s first multi-skill, environment festival conducted by experts ~
February, 2017:
Goa, the exotic holiday destination, will witness India’s only green living and learning festival for the very first time. A learning holiday in the arms of nature could perhaps be the best way to describe the three day fest.
See Sharp Fest is India's first ever-sustainable living and learning festival which is scheduled to be held from the 24thtill the 26thof February 2017 at Ashwem beach, Goa. See Sharp festival will focus on green living and learning. From classes on composting, connecting solar panels, rain water harvesting, generating cooking gas from waste food, converting waste oil into detergent to starting your very own organic farm are just some of the many sensorial experiences that will leave visitors with more than just food for thought. This fest is a quest to go back to living in harmony with the rhythms of nature while learning how to improve our own potential.
The festival See Sharp Fest is supported by celebrities from different spheres who believe in the quest to live in harmony and a sustainable future. Bollywood Actor Abhay Doel says, “The skills that See Sharp fest is offering can empower us to live a life in harmony with nature. All humans need these skills”. Anushka Machanda, Bollywood Singer stated, “Living in harmony with nature is not an option; it’s a necessary tool for our survival. Our world tomorrow depends on what we do today! That’s why I am fully behind See Sharp fest and I will come to learn these skills myself”. Sarah Jane Dias, Indian Actress & VJ is very pleased by this initiative. “I’m really happy someone is taking the initiative to promote green technologies and is educating people about sustainability.” said Sarah.
The festival will showcase workshop and sessions by various experts on permaculture, organic farming, water harvesting and sustainable décor among others.
Workshop/Sessions by Experts:
- Rico Zook – Permaculturist
- Gresham Fernandes – Impresario Entertainment &Hostpitality
- Hemant Gupta – Thank you, India, Consious Labs
- SriramKuchimanchi - Smarter Dharma and EPEA + Cradle to Cradle
- Sohaya Mishra – Chola The Label
- Sameer Hazari – Visual Artist
- Bharat Arora – Organic Farming Consultant, Entrepreneur, Celebrity TV Host
- Rohan Mathew – Earth Builder, Permaculture Designer
- Amanda Biccum – Mindfulness Guru
- Kozue Philips – Waste to product Entrepreneur Marketer
- Rob Philips – Blossom Health Foods
- Gaurav Shorey - Sustainable Habitats & Green Buildings industry
- Waylon Dsouza – Upcycle Artist
- Put your hands together
The festival haspartnered with Google’s ‘Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute’ (SIYLI) who will have their own mindfulness booth at the event and is supported by Nicobar, Vodafone, Bisleri and Conscious Labs to name a few.The event is being organized jointly by CELL (Centre for Ethical Life & Leadership) - a not for profit organization and Observing I (a sustainable technologies and services company). It is conceptualized by Tanya Kewalramani, Ashvin Mani Sharma and Ajit Ahuja.
A brief on the teachers who will be conducting the workshops and sessions at See Sharp Fest:
- Amanda Biccum
Mindfulness Coach, Holistic Nutritionist & Yoga Teacher
Founder of: Flow with Intention
Founder of: Flow with Intention
Amanda Biccum is a mindfulness coach who works closely with entrepreneurs to help them reconnect to their intuitive power through the mastery of nutrition, energy and overall body awareness. During her session you can discover the core concepts of mindful eating that will transform the way you view food. Through this session you will understand the basic concepts of conscious choices around food and how a mindset can shift your energy, weight, and connection to your body. Her session can leave you walking away with the tools to empower you on your journey towards conscious living.
- Bharat Arora
Entrepreneur, organic farmer/consultant, Celebrity TV host
“I believe in, practise and encourage organic living and self sustainability because that is our best shot at living and not surviving in today's times” says Bharat Arora. Bharat will be conducting various workshops ranging from composting (small scale urban to large scale rural), to water harvesting and growing organic food.
- Gaurav Shorey
Architect, Project manager and Consultant in Sustainable Habitats & Green Buildings Industry
Swaraji by choice, Gaurav Shorey is a young architect and project manager by qualification and has been professionally consulting in Sustainable Habitats and Green Buildings industry. He has been instrumental in shaping the green building industry in India by being a founder team lead of the GRIHA system - India's national rating system for green buildings.
- Gresham Fernandes
Culinary Director at Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.
Gresham Fernandes is a Culinary Director at Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. which runs over 45 restaurants in India. Gresham has been on a quest to make the Impresario restaurants more sustainable by looking into aspects such as seasonal procurement, waste management and the everyday issues related to running a restaurant. He has also noticed how artisal skills such as making cheese or curing meat are dying out because of our modern eating habits.
- Hemant Gupta
First Initiator, Thank You, India/ First Seeker, Conscious Labs/Co-Curator, The Commissioner’s Marathon
Hemant is a student of inter-disciplinary wisdom coming from a background of science, psychology, morality, justice, scriptures etc. He is currently also advising Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI, Google’s next frontier in human development). Hemant will be co-curating the consciousness piece at See Sharp.
- Kozue Philips
Product Planner, Marketer and Entrepreneur
Kozue is a product planner, marketer and entrepreneur. While running a cafe in Goa she realized that treatment of waste oil was a crucial yet ignored issue. Wanting a solution, she started recycling waste oil into soaps and using them at the cafe. During this process, she was surprised herself by how effective recycled soaps really are- while reducing pollution of our precious water.Kozue will discuss the environmental influence of both soaps and synthetic detergent at See Sharp Fest.
- Rico Zook
Rico Zook is a founding member of the ground-breaking firm Permaculture Design International (PDI). He has specialized in ecological design for farm, homestead, business, community, development and organization. PDI is a design, build, train and management firm with the capacity, skill and experience to work large scale, globally visible projects anywhere in the world.
- Rob Phillips
Engineer and Raw Food Nutritionist
Rob is a 100% raw foodie who’s been into raw food nutrition since almost 3 decades. He is a qualified engineer and came to Goa, India 12 years ago. He designed and put together a car, all by himself which he calls, ‘the recycled car.’ He also started Blossom Health Foods, a raw food cafe in Goa. When he passed out from school he wanted to become a natural doctor but later became a self taught nutritionist and a raw food coach. He has conducted several retreats across the world that has focused on raw food diet and yoga.
- Rohan Mathew
Founder Sainik Farms
With 5 years of international MNC experience and 4 years of Permaculture/Sustainable-Design Experience, Rohan Mathew is currently focussing his energies on merging the field of design, permaculture and sustainability in India. He has done a M.B.A. in Corporate Social Responsibility on scholarship, from University of Amsterdam and a Permaculture Design certificate from Australia.
Through his sustainable design studio in Sainik Farms he undertakes projects all over India in building green sustainable homes and designing gardens and farms based on permaculture principles.
- Sameer Hazari
Visual Artist &Content Creator
Sameer Hazari is a prolific painter and an emerging star of India’s contemporary art world. He is known for his provocative, psychedelic works, combining a unique sensibility rooted in the urban and a host of techniques, testament to his prowess as a mixed media artist. Having exhibited at major international art fairs and exhibitions, his repertoire includes interactive fine art, colour theory, portraits, sculptures and psychedelic art.He presented his collection of artworks, a striking series of acrylic on canvas, at the Oxford International Art Fair taking place this February at the monumental Oxford Town Hall in the historic city of Oxford. He is currently the most followed visual artist on Facebook in India. His popularity reflects upon his own position as an artist of the ‘everyday extraordinary’ adding to his unique approach towards bridging the divide between the artist and the audience. In his formal training as an engineer he holds a B.Tech degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Bangalore followed by an MFA from Middlesex University in 2011.
- Sohaya Misra
Fashion Designer, Chola the Label&Winner, Grazia Young Fashion Awards 2016
Chola is just about a year old and has taken on a life of its own post it’s launch at the Lakmé Fashion Week, Summer Resort in the GenNext category in March 2016 followed by their Emerging Designer Stage, Winter Festive in August 2016. Chola has also won the Grazia Young Fashion Awards 2016 under the category of ‘Label Alert’.Chola is a accessible luxury label for people across age groups. The clothes are easy to wear, edgy with a eye for detail. The fabrics used are textured linens and cottons with no embellishments so the integrity of the fabric is maintained. The clothes can be layered in various ways so they can be given a completely different look every time they are worn. As a stylist this has been the key element in Sohaya Misra’s design process.
- Sriram Kuchimanchi
Founder-CEO, Smarter Dharma&Fellow- Ashoka Foundation
Sriram is the Founder & CEO of Smarter Dharma which is a social-enterprise with environmental and social sustainability as its core mission. Behavioural change amongst producers and consumers is their long-term vision. For his idea and work in the space of sustainability, he has been recently inducted into the Ashoka Foundation as a Fellow. He has many years of experience across technology, sustainability and social impact in India and USA with a Master's degree in technology (USA) and an Executive program in Sustainability from Presidio School of Business (San Francisco, USA). He is an officer for fund-raising for a NPO - Association for India's Development. He also Co-founded www.500gallons.com&www.500eco.com. C2C i.e. Cradle-to-Cradle has inspired some of the world’s biggest companies such as Google and Puma on their journey to become net positive companies.
- Waylon J D’Souza
Artist & Industrial Designer
Waylonis an artist and an industrial designer from Goa. He has bridged his concerns for pressing issues like climate change, pollution, garbage and biodiversity loss with his experience in industrial design, permaculture and aquaponics and other fields that bring about understanding, awareness and analysis on a holistic level to create art, system and sustainable lifestyle design, utilitarian objects, landscape design and ideas to imbibe in fields such as education, cuisine and architecture.
A total of 20+ workshops will be conducted over a span of three days. There will also be music and magic, trash to art installations and performance art.The day-wise breakdown of the sessions at SEE SHARP is as follows:
Schedule at See Sharp Fest 2017:
Day 1: Friday, 24th February 2017
- Celebrating Sustainability the Indian way by Gaurav Shorey
- How to get started in Organic Farming by Bharat Arora
- The benefits of Raw foods by Rob Phillips
- Dyeing organic cloth with herbal dyes by Arun Baid
- Retrofitting an existing house to make it more sustainable by Gaurav Shorey
- Introduction to Mindfulness by Hemant Gupta
- Sustainable Décor by Sameer Hazari
- How to make BIOGAS from waste food & biomass by ARTI (APPROPRIATE RURAL TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE)
- Projection on Design For Change: The world’s largest movement of children making change in their own communities- now for adults too
- Harvesting water and recharging the soil + harvesting water from the roof by Gaurav Shorey
- Learn to make a working solar cooker by Devang Joshi
- Water Harvesting: How to make an A frame followed by making a swale by Bharat Arora
- What are the different kind of natural Homes and eco-friendly earth buildings by Rohan Mathew
- Collective Prayer by Amanda Biccum
Day 2: Saturday, 25th February 2017
- Construct an earthbag structure by Rohan Mathew
- Mindful eating and consciousness elixirs by Amanda Biccum
- Dyeing organic cloth with herbal dyes by Arun Baid
- Challenges & opportunities of running a sustainable restaurant chain by Gresham Fernandes
- Learn how to make a working Solar Water Heater by Devang Joshi
- Introduction to Mindfulness by Hemant Gupta
- Sustainable Décor by Sameer Hazari
- Projection on Design For Change: The world’s largest movement of children making change in their own communities- now for adults too
- The benefits of Raw foods by Rob Phillips
- Basic intro to PERMACULTURE and Regenerative System thinking by Rico Zook
- Tying a dhoti a 100 ways – our heritage and local culture by Gaurav Shorey
- Composting at home and at the farm by Bharat Arora
- Performance byIan Felly (LIVE HAPPY)
- How to power your house or institute on Solar energy by Arjun Srihari
- ‘Trash to Art’ installations by Waylon Dsouza
Day 3: Sunday, 26th February 2017
- Cooking according to season. Recipes from a master chef by Gresham Fernandes
- Earth bag construction by Rohan Mathew
- Opportunities in Permaculture: How Permaculture can help you earn a living, build culture, and benefit the planet no matter what your work is by Rico Zook
- Dyeing organic cloth with herbal dyes by Arun Baid
- Cradle 2 Cradle by Sriram Kuchimanchi
- Projection on Design For Change: The world’s largest movement of children making change in their own communities- now for adults too
- Introduction to Mindfulness by Hemant Gupta
- Sound Healing by Anjan Datta
- Sustainable Décor by Sameer Hazari
- Organic Farming by Bharat Arora
- MINDFUL eating by Amanda Biccum
- How to power your house or institute on Solar Energy by Arjun Srihari
- Urban & Modern Organic Farming by Jonathan Benda
- Composting at home and at the farm by Bharat Arora
- Make a mini windmill by Rob Phillips
- Making SOAP from waste oil by Kozue Phillips
- Swaraj by Gaurav Shorey
- Collective Prayer by Amanda Biccum