With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ICLEI South Asia is implementing the Social Innovation Platform (SIP) in Tiruchirappalli to strengthen participatory urban governance and accelerate local action towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The initiative adopts a deep listening approach to engage communities, identify locally relevant priorities, and co-create innovative, context-specific solutions that support sustainable urban development.
As part of this effort, a joint implementation review meeting between Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation (TCC), UNDP, and ICLEI South Asia brought together city leaders and development partners to review the project’s progress, reflect on early learnings, and discuss the next steps for advancing SDG localisation in the city.
The meeting was chaired by Thiru. Veer Pratap Singh, IAS, Commissioner, Tiruchirappalli City Municipal Corporation, in the presence of Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP; Meenakshi Kathel, Chief Advisor, SDG Acceleration Unit, UNDP; Emani Kumar, Executive Director, ICLEI South Asia; and Soumya Chaturvedula, Director, ICLEI South Asia.
During the meeting, Bedoshruti Sadhukhan, Associate Director, ICLEI South Asia, presented the progress of the Social Innovation Platform in Tiruchirappalli, highlighting how the project’s deep listening process across selected wards is generating valuable insights to inform more inclusive urban planning and decision-making.
Discussions focused on:
🔹 Aligning community-generated ideas with the city’s climate priorities to strengthen SDG localisation.
🔹 Using the Social Innovation Platform to help the Urban Local Body identify priority challenges and translate citizen inputs into immediate actionable interventions.
🔹 Forming an inclusive and transparent mechanism to assess ideas emerging from the Youth for Action Hackathon on women’s safety and mobility, to ensure selected solutions are context-specific, participatory, and responsive to local needs.
The engagement concluded with a visit to a Self-Help Group (SHG) in Ward 34, where the delegation interacted with residents to better understand local priorities related to women’s safety, mobility, care needs, grievance redressal mechanisms, and urban service delivery. These conversations reaffirmed the importance of grounding urban innovation in lived experiences and community knowledge.
By bringing together local governments, communities, youth, and development partners, the Social Innovation Platform initiative is creating pathways for Tiruchirappalli to collaborate and strengthen its local governance and enable inclusive, climate-responsive, and citizen-centred urban development.
