Learning through practice: women interns searching for sustainability and collaboration with small-scale enterprises

This paper is about the collaboration between the Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM), Odisha (India), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim (Norway), initiated in 2017. The main objective of the collaboration was to facilitate students through educators to bridge the gap between higher education and the practical skills needed for assessing and advancing sustainable development in local communities. This paper presents the contribution of nine women interns within the framework of partnership among the universities, government, and social enterprises in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It analyses the role of women interns in activities and experiences in Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), in motivating women farmers to join FPOs to benefit in terms of increasing productivity, value addition for better products, and improving market opportunities. The concluding observations section provides three sets of learnings each for the role of women interns and implications for higher education.