Proceedings of the ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)

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Design for Rural Empowerment: A Case Study of Entrepreneurial Growth in Sutarwadi Village, Maharashtra

Authors
Agnijit Tarafdar1, *
1Atlas SkillTech University, Mumbai, India
*Corresponding author. Email: agnijit.tarafdar@atlasuniversity.edu.in
Corresponding Author
Agnijit Tarafdar
Available Online 31 March 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_20How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Rural Entrepreneurship; Self Sustained; Sutarwadi; Swadesh Foundation; Human-Centered Design; Social Innovation; Community Engagement; economic sustainability
Abstract

This paper examines the role of design in nurturing and enhancing rural entrepreneurship with special reference to Sutarwadi village in Maharashtra which is a remarkable model of self-sustained development with the help of Swadesh Foundation. From our observations during the field visit, it became evident that design is more than just an appeal; it has the potential to solve problems and empower communities. Sutarwadi design thinking, towards improving lives, guided by empathy and cultural understanding, has begun to change people’s lives. Along with villages as skilled craftsmen, farmers, and novice business owners, we aimed at identifying the impacts of design on the economic sustainability of the villagers through improved packaging, branding, storytelling and communication. The residents of Sutarwadi opened their hearts and homes to us, allowing us to witness intimately their crafts, aspirations, and everyday routine. Collaborating with the people and having an open mind towards flexibility greatly enhanced the chances of developing practical and meaningful solutions together. This paper represents those reflections highlighting how, through intentional application, design has the potential to assist rural communities in developing preserving what is essential while embracing what is possible confident and self-sustained futures.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities
Publication Date
31 March 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-620-3
ISSN
2667-128X
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_20How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Agnijit Tarafdar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/31
TI  - Design for Rural Empowerment: A Case Study of Entrepreneurial Growth in Sutarwadi Village, Maharashtra
BT  - Proceedings of the ATLAS International Design Conference 2025 (AIDC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 311
EP  - 316
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_20
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-620-3_20
ID  - Tarafdar2026
ER  -