Necessity the Mother of Invention: Young Indian Innovators

 

We are more than midway through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global call for action led by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that aims to 

"prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, aiming to revive 1 billion hectares of land and protect marine environments."

It's a good time to access our progress and check out the main threats to ecosystems and the innovations and innovators tackling it. 

Overwhelmingly environmental threats include the climate crisis, deforestation, soil degradation, air pollution, water pollution and plastic pollution. In nearly all cases innovators leading the charge have overwhelmingly been young people.

Threats to ecosystems are directly and indirectly risks to human security and innovations - be they recognized, award winning and community level life-changing - have come from young people who have seen a problem and found solutions for it. 

The search engine Ecosia's planting of over 250 million trees in key ecosystems thus restoring vital natural resources has been a major win fr Ecosystem Restoration.

Young Innovators nationally and internationally, individually and through innovative community intervention have played a vital role in improving ecosystems as well as lives and livelihoods. 

The focus of this post will be young Indian Innovators whose innovations have led to climate action (SDG 13), environmental cleanup as well as improved lives.

Source: Ideal City 2026: Nature Research Intelligence/Springer Nature

SDG 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

Young Indian Innovators boosting SDGs

Three 16-year-olds Indians from Delhi-NCR, Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal, and Avyana Mehta, won the $100,000 Grand Prize of Earth Prize 2026 after becoming Regional Winners from India with their innovation Plas-Stick. Seeing the problem of microplastic pollution in water resources everywhere they came up with a low-cost innovation to ensure clean water for all, especially in rural India where access to safe drinking water and affordable tech to clean were both challenges. Their innovative use of ubiquitous tamarind seed powder to bind and remove microplastics rightfully earned then the Earth Prize 2026.     

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Mehak Pervez then a student pupil leader of a leading school in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India), Chettinad Vidyashram as a teenager designed a "refrigerator" that functioned without electricity or a coolant. This innovation that won the Lexus Design Award India improved lives and livelihoods as well as cutting down food wastage (SDG 12, SDG 2) and carbon footprint (SDG 13) of food produce. 

 

The "SunHarvested CoolRooms" which triples shelf-life of fruits and vegetables was a response to the young lady witnessing the problem of spoiling produce and the challenges of access to electricity and affordable cooling solutions and solved the problem by applying basic physics innovatively. 

This led Mehak to a Research internship at IIT-Madras' Prof. KS Reddy Sustainable Cooling Heat Transfer & Thermal Properties lab (2023-2024), the Lexus Eco Award and graduate studies in the United States. 

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Iron Max, the solar-powered ironing cart designed by then 14 year old Vinisha Umashankar from Thiruvanamalai, Tamil Nadu, India got her nominated for the inaugural Earthshot Prize of 2021 in the "Clean Our Air" category.

Seeing local dobhis (laundry persons) handle coal under the scorching sun - polluting the air and adding to greenhouse gases led to Vinisha, the Earthshot Prize's youngest ever nominee to design Iron Max - the Solar Ironing Cart even before she was a teenager after months of researching and innovating a solution. 

 

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These innovations all improved ecosystems as well as lives and livelihoods. 

SDG10 - Reduced Inequalities 

Nearly 15 years ago, then 12 year old Shalini Kumari from Patna, Bihar saw her her grandfather using a walker because of limited mobility struggle with steps and designed the adjustable walker that can be used to climb steps as well as walk on flat surfaces. By improving the access of people with limited mobility, Shalini's retractable walker improved mobility and lives of people with limited mobility. To date it remains a cost-effective and life-changing innovation in the lives of many. Improved mobility in many ways is empowerment. 

Just a student of Class 8, her life-changing innovation won her the Ignite Award 2011. 

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More recently WALK by Lifespark Technologies - a smart gait support system for Parkinson's Patients was also an innovative solution Amey Desai designed in response to his grandfather's struggles with Parkinsons Disease that has gone on to empower and improve the life, gait and safety of many suffering from the sudden fall/freeze inducing neurological condition as well as similar conditions. 

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Avishyant Panda, IAS, of the 2017 batch through his innovative community-level intervention across Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra ("Lungs of Maharashtra") has reduced inequalities and built a climate-resilient, water-secure community. His efforts at watershed management, tree-planting and water bodies restoration boosts multiple SDGs: SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities through community empowerment, SDG6 - Access to Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 11 - Sustainable Communities, SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 14 - Life Below Water, SDG 15 - Life on Land.