The WISSER Innovation Prize emerged as part of a larger entrepreneurship ecosystem development initiative, conceptualized through a collaboration between Bosco Institute, Life Plus, Baghchung, Jorhat, and Dhriiti. The project addressed the dual challenge of utilizing North East India’s abundant natural resources while creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for rural women. This took the shape of a design challenge in which designers from the North East and beyond were invited to share product/ design innovations to solve these challenges.

The project focused on two key natural resource categories:

• Bamboo and cane
• Natural fibers (including Water hyacinth, banana fiber, and grass)

The only condition was that the innovation should have the potential to create livelihood options with a focus on rural women in Northeast India.

The initiative aims to achieve significant scale and impact through:

• Engaging 300 designers/ innovators across 20-25 cities
• Generating 100+ innovative ideas
• Supporting 4 innovations through to prototype stage
• Developing 2 successful field implementations over 5 years

Distinctive features of the project:

• Focus on scalable product designs that can be produced by rural producers
• Emphasis on video documentation of innovations
• Integration of social and economic sustainability
• Structured mentorship and evaluation by an eminent jury
• Support for prototype development and implementation

The WISSER Innovation Prize represents a systematic approach to bridging the gap between design innovation and rural livelihood generation. By bringing together designers, entrepreneurs, and community experts, the program creates sustainable solutions that benefit rural women while utilizing local natural resources effectively.