Goa Studio

This studio is the third in a series of participatory planning workshop studios in Agonda Village, Goa. Building on previous years studios (2010, 2011), this studio sought out to approach the issues of land use planning, climatic design, waste management and sustainable tourism, and how it would affect Agodan lifestyle.

The 2013 report: Resilient Agonda

Please review the full 2012/13 studio report.

Goa

With lush coastal landscapes, friendly people and its Portuguese cultural and historical heritage, Goa is a popular visitor destination. In 2009, Goa prepared a Draft Regional Plan (RP2021), which provided a platform for the Panchayats (local elected government) to prepare their respective Settlement Plans. India’s Constitutional Amendments 73 and 74, intended to correct some ‘top-down’ governance practices, empower the Panchayats with an assigned set of responsibilities which include preparing Settlement Plans for adoption. In spite of limited resources and training, Panchayats welcome the opportunity to take on their responsibilities. Based on the growth projections from RPG2021, Agonda’s Core Planning Committee (CPC) prepared a hand-marked needs-statements map, which is expected to be detailed further and adopted as the Settlement Plan. More recently in 2012, the newly elected State Government has announced further reviews of the Regional Plan.

The studio was structured within the context of the RPG2021, and worked with the Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSPJ) and the Goa College of Architecture (GCA) to continue the efforts of helping Agonda with its regional plan.

Instructors:

• Meenakshi Varandani, AIA, AICP, LEED AP, PMP
  meenakshi@sustainabledevelopmentworks.com
• Gita Nandan, R.A., LEED AP

Teaching Assistants:

• Iwona Alfred
• Nigel Teekasingh

Students:

• Sarah Bloom
• Christine Camilleri
• Johane Clermont
• Lindsay Donnellon
• Josh Eichen
• Emily Hultman
• Isabel Miesner
• Catherine Nguyen
• Oscar Nuñez
• Gahl Shottan
• Jesse Such