India’s first moving conclave for humanity-centered design thinking

Nov 26 – 28, 2026

Coimbatore, India

Where Lived Community Wisdom Shapes Educational Design

ROOTS is Vidhya Vidhai Foundation's Design for Education conclave: three days, once a year, always somewhere new. Each edition gathers a small, considered group around a single question: what would it take to build a future worthy of the children who will inherit it? Working in education is not the entry requirement here. Taking the question seriously is.

This year, ROOTS moves to Coimbatore, a city with its own instinct for building things that last: in a handloom's rhythm, in the memory of an engineer who believed India could build its own machines, in communities that have kept their knowledge systems alive across generations. ROOTS borrows that instinct and turns it toward the future of children, carrying forward the questions it asked last year along Nagapattinam's coast, and turning them toward a sharper one: how do we design for a child's dignity and future, and who gets to decide what that future should mean?

Designing for every child’s Dignity and Future.

Ask what a child's future should hold, and most answers start with the world that's coming: new technology, new kinds of work, skills we are still understanding. Fewer answers start with the child. What do they want their future to be? And is a good future simply one where a child succeeds, or one where their success leaves something better behind for the people and world around them? ROOTS 2026 holds both halves of this in equal weight: the ground a child needs to stand on today, and the future they get to define for themselves from there.

The method borrows its name from a term the design theorist Don Norman coined: humanity-centered design. Where human-centered design asks what one user needs, humanity-centered design asks the wider version of that question: who else is affected, does this hold up over years rather than months, and is it built with a community rather than handed to one. ROOTS runs on exactly that discipline: check the root cause, consider the whole ecosystem, take the long view, and design with the people this is for, not around them.

Voices of ROOTS

EXPLORE EXPERIENCES

Palani

Navadhiti Solutions · Mettupalayam

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What Awaits You?

Across three days, you'll sit with the present reality of children's lives today, alongside policymakers, practitioners, technologists, parents, and the makers and communities who call Coimbatore home. The conversation will move between two questions at once: what capability, exposure, and readiness does a child need for the world ahead, and what sense of dignity, belonging, and agency do they need to actually meet it. Neither gets to run ahead of the other.

Grounded Insights

From communities already living the questions this conclave asks.

A Fuller Definition

Of what "future-ready" means when readiness and dignity are examined together, not traded off against each other.

Stronger Network

A community that cares about the unanswered questions shaping a child’s dignity and future.

Day - 1 Define the Vision

What are we actually preparing a child for?

Before anything gets designed, it has to be named, honestly. Much of what shapes a child's schooling has less to do with what's taught than with whether they were heard, given real say, and met as someone whose presence mattered. That's why dignity comes first here: not as a caveat to future-readiness, but as its starting condition. You'll spend the day among the people this work is ultimately for, voices already shaping their own answers, before arriving, together, at what "future-ready" should mean when a child gets to define what they're dreaming toward.

Themes: Shared Definitions - Why Dignity Comes First - The Role of Ecosystem

Day - 2 Diagnose the Reality

Is the system we've built actually built for that future?

Day Two trades data points for lived stories, conversations with people whose everyday lives hold knowledge no framework fully captures, set against a day steeped in the flavour, craft, and rhythm of the community hosting us. From there, the work turns practical: taking what this particular place and its people have to teach, and beginning to shape it into something worth building.

Themes: Listening Through Story - Learning From Context - Early Solutioning

Day - 3 Design for the child

What's worth carrying back: a fixed answer, or a sharper question?

The finale opens the room outward. You'll pressure-test the idea you've been shaping, not to arrive at something finished, but to leave with real clarity on the question you're taking back into your own work. You'll sit alongside other showcases from the ground itself, including young people presenting as leaders in their own right, not as case studies of them. It closes not with applause for a solution, but with a room full of people carrying sharper questions than the ones they arrived with.

Themes: Listening Through Story - Learning From Context - Early Solutioning

Who is this space for?

CSR Leaders and
Corporate Professionals

Looking to fuel something that outlasts a single project cycle.

NGO Founders and
Development Professionals

Working on education from the ground up, and tired of solutions that don't survive contact with reality.

Policy Professionals

Trying to close the distance between what's written into policy and what's lived by a child.

Educators & School Leaders

Rethinking what they're really preparing children for, beyond their own institution.

Technologists,
Designer & Creative Practitioners

Curious what their craft owes a child's dignity, not only their convenience.

Curious Minds from Any Field

Don't work in education, but can't stop thinking about what it owes the next generation.

Moments from ROOTS

Our Partners

Invest In Your Experience:
Great Ideas Deserve Access

Full Fee: ₹7,500

– 3 days of learning, stay, meals and local commute
– Workshops, field immersions, shared experiences

Cancellation Policy

All registration fees received for ROOTS are directly donated to Vidhya Vidhai Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, and are eligible for an 80G tax exemption certificate, subject to applicable provisions. As the registration payment is treated as a donation to the Foundation, payments made towards ROOTS cannot be refunded. We kindly request participants to take note of this before completing their registration.

FAQ's

Can I join for just one day? +

This is a continuous 3-day journey. Partial attendance breaks the flow; we recommend committing fully.

I don't have a background in design or education. Can I still join? +

Yes. If you're curious, open to learning, and ready to get your hands dirty, you'll fit right in.

What is the registration process? +

After you fill out the registration form, our team will verify if this space fits your need and share the payment information for securing a seat in the conclave.

I saw the registration is closed. Can I apply now? +

This is a moving conclave and requires logistics to be froze way ahead. Hence we cannot accept registrations past the last date of registration.

I'm differently abled, will the venues be accessible? +

We're trying our best to make the conclave inclusive for all. Let us know your needs at roots@vidhyavidhai.org, and we'll do our best to accommodate.

Where will participants stay? +

Accommodation for participants is arranged in Coimbatore, close to the conclave venue. [Hotel/venue name will be shared with the participants few weeks prior to the conclave].

How do I reach Coimbatore? +

By Air: Coimbatore International Airport (CJB) is well-connected with direct flights from major Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

By Train: Coimbatore Junction (CBE) is a major railway hub on the Southern Railway network with frequent express trains from Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, and other cities.

By Bus: Tamil Nadu State Transport and private operators run overnight buses from Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, and Madurai to Coimbatore.

By Road: Coimbatore is accessible via NH-544 (Kochi–Salem) and NH-83, making it easy to drive in from Bengaluru (~4.5 hrs), Kochi (~3 hrs), and other nearby cities.

What should I bring with me? +

Comfortable clothes suited to a mix of indoor sessions and outdoor immersions, sturdy footwear, curiosity, and an open mind. Since November brings rain to most southern parts of Tamil Nadu, it is best to carry rainwear. A detailed checklist will be shared after registration.

Whom can I contact if I have more questions? +

Write to us at roots@vidhyavidhai.org