Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship & Democracy

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is an Indian nonprofit that has been working for 22 years with the mission of transforming the quality of life in India's cities and towns, engaging with citizens to catalyze active citizenship in city neighborhoods, and with governments to institutionalize reforms to city governance (together called "city-systems"). This award provides general operating support and will enable the Centre to build on its earlier work on climate city-systems and just energy transition and focus on strengthening urban governance systems to enable communities to choose and access cleaner alternatives.

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (Janaagraha) is a nonprofit that aims to transform the quality of life for citizens in India’s cities and towns by promoting civic learning, civic participation, and people-centered advocacy reforms. This award enables Janaagraha to support two cities in the state of Odisha to adopt low-carbon, climate-positive lifestyles in low-income, densely populated settlements. It reaches out to households in these settlements to map current practices on energy usage, opportunities to transition to climate-friendly lifestyles, and constraints that require resolution for this to happen. Based on its field research, Janaagraha advises policy makers and civic administration authorities in Odisha on specific actions required to support these communities to move to a clean energy future.