Goa Institute of Management’s “Make-The-Case” Initiative Chosen As Good Practice By UN Office of South-South Cooperation

“Make-The-Case”, an initiative by Centre for Social Sensitivity and Action (CSSA) at the Goa Institute of Management has been chosen as good practice by the United Nations Office of South-South Cooperation and has been included in the compendium entitled ‘Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development – Volume 4’.  

In 2020, the ‘Make the Case’ competition was introduced. It was developed and put into action by the Goa Institute of Management's Center for Social Sensitivity and Action (CSSA), Commitments Accelerator for Plastic Pollution (CAPP), Ocean Recovery Alliance (ORA), and Indian Plastic Institute (IPI). The competition's goal was to raise awareness of plastic waste in India and to encourage discussion on its solutions. The objective was to persuade young people to become interested in issues of sustainable development and to make them green crusaders of their respective institutes. 

Dr. Ajit Parulekar, Director of GIM shares, “I am very happy to note that the collaborative effort of CSSA has been recognized by UNOSSC as evidence-based good practice for SDG 12. The volume released showcased over 130 development solutions that have demonstrated cross-boundary cooperation and knowledge transfer between countries of the global South and which are highly adaptable to local economic and social conditions.  I am pleased to know that from India, we are probably the first Business School who have been recognised for our effort by a UN entity”.  

The ‘Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development publication series documents the incredible work that is currently happening in the global South. Two seasons of the Make-The-Case competition have been held so far. Instead of concentrating on completely fresh start-up concepts, the competition in Season 1 (2020) focused on programmes and innovations that have already been implemented and have the potential to be scaled. In total, 165 teams signed up for this contest. Moving this initiative to a national platform, students from across the country had the opportunity to participate in season 2. 

CSSA Chairperson Professor Divya Singhal communicated that “Make the Case competition was launched in 2020.  The objective of the competition was to generate awareness about and discuss ways to tackle plastic waste in India. The aim was to nudge youth to take an interest in issues related to sustainable development and make them the green crusaders in their respective institutions”. 

The competition is distinctive because it involves knowledge creation, knowledge transmission, and action. The competition's lessons have successfully demonstrated that plastic waste significantly affects public health.