Between quiet field notes and bold strategy decks, it’s always worth asking how we can live more thoughtfully on this planet.
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Publication date 2024 | Author, Marici Saudamini
This study explores the intricacies of seed systems in Koraput, Southern Odisha, within the context of the Odisha Millet Mission (OMM). The analysis uses the process-based value chain framework to examine the diverse seed systems and their impact on agricultural sustainability, food security, and farmer empowerment. The OMM's decentralized approach involves various stakeholders, including NGOs, research foundations, and Community Resource Persons (CRPs), to improve millet cultivation and support financial stability.
This is a project I worked on, which was in collaboration with the Chicoco collective in Nigeria.
We are 40 master’s students and two assistant professors from Utrecht University, united by a passion for expanding our collective imagination of just and sustainable futures. Through the Imagining the Future for Transformation elective, developed by the Urban Futures Studio, we created CC4Utopia – Creative Collectives for Utopia. Our work combines research and collaboration with initiatives across Europe and Africa, acting as both archaeologists and co-designers of possible futures. We explore the forces that limit what is seen as possible, and develop participatory, artistic, speculative, and decolonial approaches that challenge dominant Western and capitalist narratives in sustainability.
This is an article I had published a while back in the International Journal of All Research Education & Scientific Methods
An amalgamation of fourteen tiny villages lies south of the town of Pondicherry. Light green paddy fields fill the horizon with a breath of fresh air. Water is the lifeline of this village; narrow streams and vast lakes paint a scenic picture to the eye of the observer until to takes a closer look. Underlying this beauty, there is a heap of politics, which has overpowered the sanctity of these ancient marvels, the water tanks. The tanks are facing dire issues such as pollution (medical and sewage), sand mining, and dreaded real estate encroachments.
Resume & Story
Jugaad to Justice
Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 2022-2024)
Utrecht University marked a profound shift in my sustainability journey, a move from the grassroots realities of rural India to a global...
EGEN Consulting
Utrecht, 2023
During my internship at EGEN Consulting in the Netherlands, I designed a multi-stakeholder business model that brought...
Tales from the Ground
Srishti Institute of Art, Design, and Technology
As part of a collaborative project with NABARD Bank India, I had the opportunity to travel extensively across all districts of Himachal...
Sustainability at Scale
KPMG, NCR, 2020-2021
My time at KPMG introduced me to the layered world of sustainability consultancy, where ambition, policy, and ground reality...
Greening the Glass
WeWork, NCR, 2018- 2020
At WeWork, my sustainability lens shifted toward people, how they gather, work, and connect in urban environments...
Rooted Solutions
The Corbett Foundation, Madhya Pradesh, 2018
In the Beohari region of Madhya Pradesh, my work with The Corbett Foundation brought me to the very edge of the forest...
The Art of Storytelling (GIZ)
New Delhi, 2017-2018
My sustainability journey took a new shape when I entered the world of desks, deadlines, and diplomacy, working with the Indo-German...
Designing with Nature
Auroville, 2017
In Auroville, I had the opportunity to work with Auroville Consulting, a place where the idea of living lightly on the earth...
Where Policy Meets People
Hyderabad, 2015-2017
Curious to explore beyond the familiar rhythms of city life, I moved to Hyderabad to pursue a Master’s in Natural Resources and Governance...
Seeds, Forests, Stories
Keystone Foundation (Kotagiri, 2014)
At 19, I found myself in places where the internet barely reached, but wisdom ran deep, interning with the Keystone Foundation in the Nilgiris...
Listening to the Forest
Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS), Karnataka, 2012
At the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, tucked deep in the tropical forests of Karnataka, I was handed a pair of muddy boots...
From Stillness to Surge
Mumbai, 2012-2015
Leaving behind the stillness of Rishi Valley, I landed in Mumbai to study Sociology, eager to understand how communities, governance...
Introduction to the World
Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, 2009-2012
One of the most grounding chapters of my life began at a boarding school nestled in the quiet village of Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh...
Saudamini Marici is a sustainability advisor who moves between forests and boardrooms, between quiet field notes and bold strategy decks, always asking how we can live more thoughtfully on this planet.
Her journey began in small villages across India, where she grew up immersed in the world of documentary filmmaking, traditional knowledge, and resource realities. Over the years, her work has taken shape across many landscapes, from tracking tiger corridors in Madhya Pradesh to mapping millet seed systems in Odisha, from designing CSR strategies with KPMG to building circular business models in the Netherlands. Whether it’s working with tribal communities on water governance or guiding multinational companies through their sustainability transitions, she brings a rare balance of grassroots insight and systems thinking.
With academic grounding from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a Master’s in Sustainable Business and Innovation from Utrecht University, Saudamini works at the intersection of ecology, equity, and enterprise. But beyond titles and tools, her practice is rooted in curiosity about how people live, what they value, and how change takes shape when context and care come first.
Sustainability is a story, one we must write together, slowly, and with intention.