A2I Climate Labs
A practitioner-led, challenge-based learning programme where young people explore the implementation gaps behind two real-world climate challenges: waste segregation and water quality monitoring, engaging with existing evidence and experiences to investigate where meaningful change may be possible.
A2I Climate Labs: From Action to Implementation is a free, non-commercial initiative designed to engage student teams with two real-world challenges:
Theme 1: Waste SegregationChallenge
Teams exploring this theme will examine the challenges surrounding sustained waste segregation in India and consider different perspectives, evidence and experiences that may help explain why effective segregation remains difficult across many contexts. Teams will submit an "A2I Theme Response," a 3–4 page document addressing four key questions:
What do we know? What does existing evidence, experience and research tell us about waste segregation in India? What is unknown or unclear? What important questions, gaps, contradictions or unresolved issues remain? What do we need to investigate? What would we need to understand better, and whose perspectives, evidence or experiences would matter? What could change? Based on initial understanding, where might there be an opportunity for meaningful change?
Shortlisted teams will get a chance to visit the MRF of industry partner, OneStep Greener.
Theme 2: Water Quality — Climate Cadets Challenge Teams exploring this theme will join the Climate Cadets Challenge, tracing their drain from home to the Yamuna, testing water quality with NatureDots' AquaNurch technology, and asking the question: if air has AQI, why doesn't water have WQI? Rather than a written document, this theme's submission takes the form of field-based content: reels, stories, voice notes, observations and photos capturing genuine insights from the field. No prior experience is needed, just a phone and curiosity. Selected submissions will be showcased at Climate Week India 2026.
For both themes, the preliminary shortlisting will focus on Understanding of the Theme, Depth of Reasoning, and Clarity of Communication. Teams are not expected to identify the final problem or propose a fully developed intervention at this stage.
Shortlisted teams will receive the specific problem statement, based on their chosen theme, on September 27, 2026, during Climate Week India 2026 at the India Habitat Centre (IHC), Delhi. The event will include a fireside chat with industry challenge partners, a question and answer session with shortlisted candidates, and the unveiling of the problem statement.
Following this, teams will investigate the shared problem, diagnose the underlying implementation challenges, and develop an evidence-based, implementation-oriented response for their final presentation on October 1, 2026. Detailed criteria, methodology and final-output requirements will be shared separately with shortlisted teams.
PARTNERS: C-Cube | One Step Greener | Nature Dots PROGRAMME LEAD: Neha Gupta PROGRAMME COORDINATOR: Lovish Kumar CLIMATE WEEK INDIA 2026