CBPS Director, Niveditha Menon was invited by the Commonwealth of Learning to attend the Eleventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF11) held at Botswana from 10-12 September, 2025. The conference was attended by over 400 participants from 44 Commonwealth Member States.
Dr. Menon conducted a marketplace-workshop on Enhancing Community-Based Open Education Through Innovative Participatory Method where she demonstrated the use of game-based frameworks to enhance community participation. Additionally, she presented a poster titled The Touch and Feel of Knowledge: Understanding the Intricacies of Knowledge Systems for Women Artisans in India, authored by Niveditha Menon and Urvija Priyadarshini, which spoke about women’s spaces within the crafts ecosystem, policy responses and the need for building capacities. Her paper presentation titled Skill Building for Scale and Sustainability for Women Artisans in India: Understanding the Policy Landscape, authored by Niveditha Menon and Urvija Priyadarshini, spoke about the gendered labour of women artisans in Ilkal weaving and Channapatna toy-making, highlighting the need for engendering skilling policies, and foregrounding women’s indigenous knowledge systems and practices.
With 12 pre-event workshops, 200 scholarly papers, and 50 poster, panel and workshop sessions, PCF11 brought together a diverse group of educators, researchers, policymakers, and development partners.
Click here to know more about the research project Improving Lives and Livelihoods by Building Women’s Capacities in Craft supported by Commonwealth of Learning.