This is a study of the environmental sector in India done in 2003, to identify the best way to support social entrepreneurs focused on environmental and sustainability.

1. A S H O K A I N N O VAT O R S F O R T H E P U B L I C
Perspectives of Indian Environmental Leaders
Based on Survey Data Collected in April 2003
October 2003

2. Ashoka: Innovators for
the Public
Ashoka was launched in India in 1981 and has elected
more than 1300 leading social entrepreneurs to its
Fellowship over the past 20 years.
Ashoka Fellows now operate in 44 countries around the
world. More than 300 Fellows work in the environmen-
tal sector.
In India, there are more than 60 environmental Fellows
who are focused in areas like waste management, water
management, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity protec-
tion, and environmental education.
Further information about Ashoka is available at:
http://www.ashoka.org.
The Environmental
Innovations Initiative
One of Ashoka’s newest programs, the EII has a man-
date to capture, distill, and disseminate the key lessons
of Ashoka’s environmental Fellows to help environmen-
tal leaders globally.
The project’s anchor products are principles that articu-
late essential features of the work of Ashoka’s environ-
mental Fellows.
These principles are still in development, but we have
composed some test principles for the purposes of the
Market Research Survey.
The EII intends to refine and then market these princi-
ples to environmental leaders globally with supporting
products like case studies, workshops, collaborations,
and demonstration projects.
Case studies demonstrate one or more principles by
exploring a Fellow’s work.
Workshops convene environmental leaders to discuss
and develop implementation methods for one or more
principles.
Collaborations bring Fellows and other environmental
leaders together to implement one or more principles
to address an important issue or challenge.
Demonstration projects are longer term efforts
using principles to address important sectoral issues and
challenges; demonstrations may require creating a new
entity and hiring staff.
While EII’s focus until now has been global, as we move
into the marketing phase, there is a strong need to cus-
tomize our offerings at a more local level.
Thus, we are considering entering critical environmental
markets including India.
Further information about EII is available at:
http://www.ashoka.org/global/environment.cfm.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in our sur-
vey on the environmental sector in India and Ashoka's
plans to grow its Environmental Innovations Initiative
(EII). Your thoughtful responses have been extremely
valuable in helping us understand the environmental sec-
tor better and, in this way, make informed strategic deci-
sions about the future of EII.
Page 1

3. We sent out approximately 500 surveys to environmental
leaders within India. Thanks to your efforts we received
over 100 responses—an outstanding 20%—although only
80% arrived in time to be processed. We believe that these
surveys constitute a strong sample of environmental lead-
ers within India. Here's what our respondents looked like:
Geography: 50% live in the South, with the other half
split between the West (28%), North (16%), and East
(8%)
Organization Type: 80% work for NGOs; only a hand-
ful of responses came from Government, Media,
Research Institutions, and Funders
Stage of Development: 50% self-characterize their
stage of development as "Building," 35% as "Mature,"
and 15% as "Launch"
Relationship with Ashoka: 20% are Ashoka Fellows, the
remaining are external
Issue Focus: 32% focus on Conservation, 32% on
Development, 23% on Pollution, and 13% on
Agriculture
Approach: 40% focus on Community Mobilization, 26%
on Education, 12% on Policy, 11% on Technology, and
the remaining 10% split between Restoration and
Research
We asked respondents to answer general questions about
their organizations and the sector as a whole. From this,
we received some valuable insight into the state of the
environmental field within India.
Improving effectiveness and measuring impact were
the strongest organizational needs
Ineffective governance (policy and implementation)
was the largest organizational challenge
Water was strongly mentioned as the biggest sectoral
issue
Public awareness and community stewardship of natu-
ral resources were the top priorities for the sector
Next, we asked for feedback on EII: its benefits, preferred
focus areas, and the extent to which respondents may be
interested in engaging with EII. Here we received some
very positive feedback on our program—overall interest
levels were higher than expected—and excellent direction
for how we ought to enter India.
Overall, 75% were interested in engaging with EII
more than two times per year
Respondents had mixed impressions of EII principles:
interest levels were generally high for principles that
articulated some dimension of community engagement
("Citizens in Charge" and "Empower with
Information," for example) but lower for the others
Case studies, demonstration projects, and workshops
were identified as the preferred activities
Building knowledge, global linkages, public awareness,
and networking were the suggested emphases for the
program
We then analyzed this general feedback according to differ-
ent attributes or "segments" of our respondents—such as
individuals from Northern India, or individuals whose
organizations are in a "Building" stage of development. This
gave us a clearer sense of the types of people who may be
most interested in the EII and how the EII should cus-
tomize its activities to suit their needs. Based on this
analysis, EII will focus on serving the following needs/priori-
ties:
Measuring impact/improving effectiveness, scaling up
work, and linking to national and global initiatives
Community stewardship over natural resources and
increasing public awareness and engagement
Water, population, privatization, and globalization
EII will do this by focusing on offering demonstration proj-
ects, workshops, and case studies.
Based upon your rich feedback, existing Ashoka environ-
mental activities within India, and EII's mandate, we have
proposed a launch strategy for our program.
Taking advantage of historic knowledge-based activities
within Ashoka India including the "Power Sector
Collaboration" and the "Water Dialogue," as well as
respondents' strong orientation toward knowledge building,
we are pursuing a knowledge-led approach that will spend
roughly one year writing case studies and engaging poten-
tial partners within a specific research topic (constrained by
the preferences of water, population, privatization, and glob-
alization.) Then, based both upon respondents' preferences
and EII's mandate, we plan to define and implement a
demonstration project, that builds off of the knowledge and
partners developed during case writing. Our hope is that
the demonstration project will be marketed across India to
change both mindsets and practices with respect to the
environment— thereby fulfilling the highest goal of the EII.
Executive Summary
Profile of the Respondents
General Feedback
EII-Specific Feedback
EII Positioning
Launching EII in India
Page 2

4. Objectives
Improve our understanding of the environmental
sector in India
Identify key players
Identify emerging trends
Segment the sector according to needs and
preferences
Gather feedback on EII products and delivery
mechanisms
Analyze this data to develop an overall strategy and
approach for EII in India
Establish a replicable process for launching local-
country EII market research projects in the future
Identified a representative sample of approxi-
mately 500 key organizations in the environ-
mental sector in India
Ensured sample was representative across
types of organization, geography, and sub-sec-
tor focus areas
Developed a rigorous,‘quantitative’ question-
naire based on feedback/responses from 15
in-depth, open-ended interviews
Conducted in-depth interviews with Ashoka
Fellows and targeted external practitioners
Designed quantitative survey to assess:
Primary drivers and needs of various seg-
ments
Major trends and challenge areas in the sec-
tor
Overall relevance/utility of the EII principles
and other knowledge products
Most meaningful ways to position EII service
offerings to each market segment
Tested/refined quantitative questionnaire with
a subset of in-depth interviewees
Administered mail/email-based survey to sam-
ple population
Conducted surveys in-person/over the phone
where necessary to ensure response rates
Received 100 completed surveys, of which
roughly 80 were timely enough to be
processed
Analyzed feedback to determine overall
response trends and developed different seg-
ment profiles
Synthesized findings into:
Highlights of overall trends/insights
General relevance/meaningfulness of EII
knowledge products
Positioning of EII service offerings
Key direction/options for EII product
development and delivery in India (and global-
ly where applicable)
Page 3
Market Research Approach
Process

5. Respondents by Region
Nearly half of the 80 respondents
are from the South; roughly a quar-
ter from the West, a sixth from the
North, and a twelfth from the East.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
South West North East
48%
28%
16%
8%
Page 4

6. Respondents by Organization Type
NGOs Government Solo
Practitioner
Research Media Funder
The overwhelming share of
responses was from NGOs.
81%
5%
4% 3%
1%
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%--
5%
Page 5

7. Respondents by Location
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
Both Rural Urban
90% of respondents work either solely on rural
issues or on both rural & urban issues.
51%
38%
8%
Page 6

8. Respondents by Stage of Development
Building Mature Launch
85% of respondents are either in the
building or mature stages of organizational
development.
49%
36%
15%
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
Page 7

9. Respondents by Fellow/Non-Fellow
Non-
Fellow
Fellow
Roughly 20% of all respondents are Fellows;
the remainder are external to Ashoka.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
79%
21%
Page 8

10. Conservation Development Pollution
Respondents by Issue Area
Agriculture
2/3 of all respondents work in conservation or sustainable
development; a fifth works in pollution, and an eighth works in
agriculture.
32%
13%
23%
32%
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
Page 9

11. Mobilization Education Policy Technology Restoration Research
Respondents’ Approach
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
40%
12% 11%
5% 5%
26%
Response numbers from mobilization and education are
robust; others are less strong, though technology and
policy are still significant.
Page 10

12. Improve
Effectiveness,
Measure Impact
Linking to
Global
Bettering
Sector Info
Scaling Up Networking,
Collaboration
Improve Law,
Implementation
Respondents’ Needs
Systematizing work, measuring effectiveness, and
documenting results are needs of 60% of
respondents. Linking to larger scale work and
bettering information on the sector also
figure prominently.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
61%
43%
28%
41%
45%
54%
Page 11

13. Ineffective Lack of Public Too-Narrow Lack of Poor Resource Inadequate Poor Interface
Governance Awareness Thinking Coordination Allocation Knowledge- Between
Sharing & Global &
Management Local
Two-thirds of respondents cite ineffective
governance and lack of public awareness
as challenges they face.
Respondents’ Challenges
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
71%
63%
43%
35%
32%
28%
16%
Page 12

14. Most Crucial Issues in Respondents’ Sector
Water Habitat
Destruction
Unsustainable
Production &
Consumption
Globalization
&
Privatization
Pollution Waste
Management
Land Use
&
Planning
Climate
Change
Water is identified as a most crucial issue for the sector;
population is identified by half of all respondents.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
72%
51%
39%
31%
28%
24% 24%
19%
Population
7%
Page 13

15. Public awareness and community stewardship of natural resources are top
sector priorities for roughly two-thirds of all respondents.
Public
Awareness
Community
Stewardship
Agriculture
& Livelihood
Options
Alternative
Technology
New Laws,
Incentives
Advocacy
Platforms
Sector Priorities
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
73%
61%
55%
48%
31%
27%
Page 14

16. 25%-
20%-
15%-
10%-
5%-
0%-
Respondents’ Top Learning Priorities
Collaborations Workshops Case Studies Demonstration
Projects
Success
Stories
Videos,
Multimedia
Priorities spread quite evenly across
collaborations, workshops, case studies,
and demo projects.22%
20%
19% 19%
12%
7%
Page 15

17. Respondents’ Interest in Case Studies
Over 60% of respondents indicate a high level of interest in case studies
Not Interested Highly InterestedModerately
Interested
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
1%
62%
36%
Page 16

18. Preferred Case Study Formats
Workshops are overwhelmingly the preferred for-
mat for cases; all other means (searchable online
database notwithstanding) have significant interest.
Workshops Individual
Printed Cases
Videos,
Multimedia
Collected as
Book
Downloadable
Internet/CD
Searchable
Database
Not
Interested
40%-
30%-
25%-
20%-
15%-
10%-
5%-
0%-
31%
17%
19%
16%
4%
15%
1%
Page 17

19. Suggested Workshop Foci
Sustainable development was reported by two-thirds of
respondents, water by nearly half, and environmental
governance by one-third.
Sustainable
Development
Habitat
Conservation
Globalization
&
Privatization
Environmental
Governance
Land Use &
Planning
Water Waste
Management
Pollution Principles,
Case
Studies
Population
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
66%
47%
32%
30%
24% 23%
19% 18%
16% 16%
Page 18

20. Desired EII Engagement
Limited Engagement High EngagementModerate Engagement
>75% of respondents would like to
be engaged by EII more than 2-3
times per year.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
22%
28%
50%
Page 19

21. Main Benefits of EII:Top Choice Only
Building knowledge is the strongest perceived benefit of EII
with networking and global links following closely behind.
Building
Knowledge
Networking Link Work to
Global
New Knowledge
Management in
Sector
Policy-Level
Change
Spread Best
Ideas
Collaborations
40%-
35%-
30%-
25%-
20%-
15%-
10%-
5%-
0%-
38%
17%
15%
10% 10%
7%
4%
Page 20

22. Suggested EII Foci
Global Linkages Public Awareness
Building
Networking
to Influence
Policy
Sector
Coordination &
Alignment
Exchanges,
Partnerships
Knowledge
Management,
Sharing
Global linkages and public awareness
building are highlighted by >50% of
respondents as suggested foci for EII.
80%-
70%-
60%-
50%-
40%-
30%-
20%-
10%-
0%-
68%
51%
49%
47%
43%
38%
Page 21

23. EII’s Knowledge-Led Approach in India
Based upon the rich feedback, existing
Ashoka environmental activities within India,
and EII's mandate, we have proposed a
launch strategy for our program.
We are pursuing a knowledge-led approach
that will spend roughly one year writing case
studies and engaging potential partners with-
in a specific research topic. Once this scaf-
folding is in place, we plan to define and
implement a demonstration project that
builds off of the knowledge and partners
developed during case writing. Our hope is
that the demonstration project will be mar-
keted across India to change both mindsets
and practices with respect to the environ-
ment — thereby fulfilling the highest goal of
the EII.
1. Define Research Question
EII works with key Fellows and staff to
define research question
Top potential questions:
Water
Privatization
Globalization
2a. Write Case Studies
Case writer systematically chronicles strate-
gies, challenges, and success drivers of inno-
vative projects within research question
Case studies are the preferred knowledge
product of targeted segments
2b. Identify Partners
Case writer takes on dual role of identifying,
engaging, and triaging potential partners
Top potential partners:
Fellows
Building Stage
Mobilization Approach
3. Distill Into Opportunities
EII takes a cut at distilling gathered data into
intervention opportunities and selecting the
right partners
4. Workshop Opportunities
EII works with selected partners to
prioritize and vet opportunities and to
define implementation team
5. Implement Demonstration
EII and implementation team do
demonstration project(s) and work
with marketing to maximize spread
using products including case studies
Demonstrations are the preferred
opportunity for targeted segments
Page 22
Why a Knowledge-led
Approach?
Process Outline

24. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
The Environmental Innovations Initiative
1700 North Moore Street | Suite 2000
Arlington,Virginia 22209-1929 USA
T. (703) 527.8300 | F. (703) 527.8383
www.ashoka.org | info@ashoka.org
www.changemakers.net
Asunción | Bamako | Bandung | Bangkok
Bogotá | Budapest | Buenos Aires
Calcutta | Caracas | Dakar | Delhi Dhaka |
Harare | Istanbul | Johannesburg | Karachi |
Kathmandu
La Paz | Lagos | Lima | London | Mexico City
| Montevideo |Ouagadougou Prague | Quito
| Rio de Janeiro | San José | San Salvador |
Santiago | São Paulo | Vilnius | Warsaw |
Washington DC |
India Offices
T-13 Green Park Extension | New Delhi
110016 | T. 91-11-619-0969 | F. 91-11-619-
8002 |
2, Bina Apartments | Guru Gangeshwar Marg
6th Road, Khar (W) | Mumbai 400 052 | T.
91-22-604-7635
No. 142, 69th Cross |5th Block, Rajajinagar
Bangalore 560010 | T. 91-80-340-9712