Rapid increase in urbanization, industrialization, and globalization have made rural areas more vulnerable and unstable, and there are significant challenges to rural sustainable development that hinder their long-term well-being.

With large strides being made in education, technology, science and understanding human behaviour, AIDC ‘25 becomes the perfect stage for innovative minds to bring their skills and talents to bear in the hopes of changing the landscape of rural India itself.

Rural life is rooted in the land, quite literally. From knowledge of the Earth to the wisdom of nature, there is much to be gained from returning to the soil from whence we came. It is those who till that soil today that are the guardians of thousands of years of concepts, techniques, materials and scientific ideas kept safe through stories and songs.

This competition asks participants to use their research, ideation and design skills to develop innovative yet practical solutions that the individuals on the ground in rural areas can implement to :

1. Create sustainable income that provides at the very least a comfortable living wage.
2. Provide inexpensive healthcare for their communities.
3. Clean drinking water and proper sanitation.
4. Consistent and continuous access to food, medicine and electricity.
5. Document and monetise cultural histories and skills.
6. Build strong relationships between rural entrepreneurs and urban audiences in India and around the world.

Keeping the Sustainable Development Goals as a guiding star, participants are encouraged to approach the theme with an open mind and focused eye, looking to solve specific problems that in turn results in widespread positive change.

1. Protection of cultural histories - documenting stories, histories and traditions by leveraging entrepreneurship for artisanal practices for modern audiences
2. Sustainable product design - building systems and business models that can sustainably produce products made from locally sourced materials 
3. Institution building - designing and building self-governed institutions for educating members of the community in age-relevant skills and abilities to improve self-sustenance
4. Systemic Innovation - identify gaps in the supply chain for rural communities and build systems that provide a better quality of life and a living wage through safe and sustainable work in good working conditions
5. Conservation & ecology - using traditional knowledge of the land, flora and fauna of the area gathered by the local community, design solutions that help them revive and maintain their surrounding ecology
6. Healthcare - keeping in mind the cost and physical limitations of real world solutions, design an IoT based solution that aims at helping to provide direct, immediate access to healthcare for rural communities
7. Fashion & Tradition - develop rural entrepreneurial solutions that allow communities to leverage the development of wearable and unique garments & accessories by using fabric waste produced by the fashion industry via a circular economy

1. Teams can comprise a maximum of 4 individuals
2. Submissions must be made in the form of an up to 5-minute video clip in MP4 format that presents their design idea, including statements and elaboration of the objective, method, innovation and outcome, together with a PDF presentation documenting the same with an abstract up to 300 words, summarising their design idea.

   Video Specifications

   • Duration: up to 5-minutes
   • Resolution: 1280 x 720 minimum with 16:9 aspect ratio
   • Frame rate: 30 fps maximum
   • Format: H.264 encoded MP4
   • File size: 200 MB maximum
3. Deadlines must be adhered to without exception.