Millennium Fellowship Class of 2025: Over 4,000 young leaders making the SDGs and UNAI Principles reality
This year’s Millennium Fellows were selected from over 60,000 applicants from over 7,500 campuses across 160 countries. 23 students from Azim Premji University have qualified for the same.
Campus
Bengaluru
About the Fellowship
In 2018, Millennium Campus Network (MCN) partnered with the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) to advance UN Goals through the Millennium Fellowship. It is a semester-long leadership development programme that happens on selected campuses. Undergraduate student leaders making a positive impact in community and advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the principles of UNAI are encouraged to apply.
“The fellowship connects me to like-minded people who are also passionate about change, just like me. I work every day with the hope that someday there will be peace and harmony everywhere, among the beautiful web of organisms. ”
About the Millennium Fellowship Class of 2024 from Azim Premji University
Fellowship duration: August — November 2024 (4 months)
Application process: 52,000+ applicants from 6000+ campuses over 170+ countries, out of which only 4,000+ applicants from 280+ campuses (5 pecent), from 48 countries were selected.
Reflections from the Millennium Fellowship Class of 2024
9 selected fellows from our University and a description of their projects:
| Student | Project Description |
|---|---|
| Deepanshu, Shreshta Mitta, Manoj, Rujula Murali, BA in Economics; Shivani Mekala, BA in Social Science; Muskan Kunwar, BA in Philosophy | Community Learning Centre and Panchayat Library: These are ongoing projects under the Community Engagement Initiative of Azim Premji University. Academic support is provided to children of our support and security staff, migrant workers in our community Efforts are also being made to maximise the use of the University’s resources while engaging with the students. Panchayat Libraries in our neighborhood are visited to engage with children from the neighbourhood. |
| Jyotiraditya Pradhan, BA in Economics | Assistive Tech at Azim Premji University: The product will help people who are visually impaired to identify rooms, say in a school or workplace setting. Near Field Communication (NFC) tags will be placed at each room’s entrance. This will allow mobile phones to convert text to speech, helping read out the names of the rooms to users. |
| Gurbani Saroa, BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics | Project Kaleidoscope: An ecological footprint calculator developed for the Indian context. It is designed to evaluate one’s consumption patterns in terms of food, energy, electricity, housing and lifestyle, and evaluates the carbon footprint left behind. |
| Leela Mahesh Konda, BA in Social Science | The Minimal Waste Project: To reduce food waste on campus, by working with the food committee, the student collected data about food waste. Towards the end of the Fellowship, the student proposed a Food Magazine for the Food Committee to share positive food stories, food waste statistics in an interesting way. It will also share the complaints raised, solutions provided, announcements of upcoming food events, and collect feedback from students. |
| Trishaa Manda, BSc in Environmental Science and Sustainability | Understanding plastic usage at an individual level: The hardest task was keeping track of all the waste being generated. While it is easy to simply monitor plastic waste based on purchases made, it is hard to keep track of smaller items that are consumed accidentally. The idea was to find a more robust monitoring system. |
“I have always believed that the work we do has the power to inspire and motivate others to continue the efforts we have started. For me, giving back to society means using the privileges and opportunities I have had to make a meaningful impact. I am passionate about creating positive change by working collectively, with a vision for a future where every child receives the support they need to excel academically and develop holistically. ”