Instagram story viewer> @picanator> Tagged

picanator

@picanator

540

followers

270

following

Also follow @bicyclemayorblr @oorulabs and @altmo.app

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Every meaningful change begins with a conversation.

We recently took the first step towards building a dialogue on Marathwada’s urban future by bringing stakeholders together.

More to share soon!

7

0

🧩 The Active Mobility Puzzle

We all want cities where walking and cycling are safe, easy and accessible. In fact, the Supreme Court has recognised the right to walk as a fundamental right.

So why do our streets still make walking and cycling feel unsafe or impossible?

What are the missing pieces that stand between policy and practice? How do we move from recognising a right to actually designing cities that uphold it? And what role can each of us play in making that happen?

Join us for an interactive conversation as we unpack the active mobility puzzle as part of the Climate Week India 2026.

📅 1 October
🕒 3:00 PM
📍 Samagata Foundation @samagataorg

Ready to join?
🎟️ Check out the agenda and secure your spot- link in bio!

66

3

When we see a problem in our neighbourhoods, our first instinct is often to look away. Someone else will fix it.

But what if citizens could take the first step themselves?

That's why we've partnered with Oorvani.

They're building communities of local problem solvers through hands-on audits, data jams, and data-led storytelling platforms (Citizen Matters & Open City)—helping people decode civic issues and co-create solutions.

They're strengthening the data and analytics infrastructure our cities desperately need, while actualising the Neighbourhoods of the Future framework.

Get involved:

-> Citizen Matters: Stories & insights on urban issues

-> Open City: Public data, maps, and resources

-> Join a Jam: Co-create solutions with professionals

Explore more on Oorvani's website

Welcome to the ecosystem, Oorvani. Let's build together.

— Team Rainmatter Foundation

387

8

Aav re varsaad (આવ રે વરસાદ) is a Gujarati folk poem sung to welcome the rains in June.

The last month was about showing up - on footpaths, in village squares, and in policy rooms.

Our partners reminded us that change often starts when people truly notice what's around them: a neighbourhood lake, a pollinator's path, the hidden toll of indoor heat, or a community's power to write its own landscape plan.

From Chennai to Bengaluru, Jharkhand to Odisha - curiosity, conversation, and collective action were in the air.

We're learning alongside them, and the full picture is always richer than a caption allows.

For the deeper dive on photos, granular updates, and the complete partner roundup - head to our monthly blog here
https://lnkd.in/dwjRkYZY

— Team Rainmatter Foundation

54

0

Summer doesn't pause for anyone.
Neither does the work.

This May, as temperatures climbed and cities strained under the heat, our partners leaned in - mapping how Bengaluru's green cover has shrunk over decades, reframing heat as an economic threat rather than a seasonal inconvenience, and designing narratives that put dignity and community at the centre of cooling.

But May was more than heat.

It was also about leopards and locals sharing landscapes in Ratnagiri, tidal flooding and material innovation in Kochi, municipal accounting reforms in Rajkot, and community scorecards in Jharkhand that prove what real place-ownership looks like.

We also welcomed Sathyanarayanan Sankaran as CEO of Rainmatter Foundation - the Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru - as Sameer Shisodia moves into an Ecosystem Fellow role to deepen partner and systems work.

The heat we built for ourselves won't undo overnight.

But it can be undone.

Swipe to explore May's updates, partner stories, and opportunities to join the work.

149

1

A missing bicycle is more than just a lost ride. Take a moment and pause to help Bharat find his Bicycle!

#BPAC #bicycles #BGREEN #Bengaluru #greenerfuture

@kiranmazumdar_shaw @revathyashok @dultbangalore @gbachiefcomm @nithinkamath @nikhilkamathcio

12

0

Since the inception of Rainmatter Foundation, with Sameer at the helm, our thinking has matured through conversations, partnerships, experiments, and shared learning across climate and nature.

What began with a few focus areas has grown into interconnected work as ecosystem weaver across urban systems, rural transitions, conservation & restoration, buildings, industry, education, data, changemaking and more - with place as the central focus of problem-solving.

We have constantly learnt and evolved over the last five and a half years, and we are looking at another transition now.

To take this forward, Sameer Shisodia (@sameer.shisodia) will move into a new role as an Ecosystem Fellow for Design-led Thinking, realising the need for consolidating our efforts to make India more resilient.

With orgs and individuals working in the space as well as with the Rainmatter team, Sameer will help think through and co-design ecosystem-level responses for problems that seem too large to tackle.

From June onwards, Sathyanarayanan Sankaran (@picanator) will take over as CEO of Rainmatter Foundation. Over the last two years, Sathya has led our work on urban ecosystems and will now guide the foundation into its next phase.

For the journey so far and ahead, thank you, Sameer, for your leadership in shaping RF’s beliefs and guiding principles.

- Team Rainmatter Foundation

@nithinkamath | Kailash Nadh | Seema Patil | @rajiv6259 | @vikashosoor | @raosids | @sunny_climate_stormy_climate | Sandilya MV | @an_art_in_progress | Nayantara Lakshman | @ashwin_kulkarni | @sid_lahri | @tanmaymukherjee | @thejaswini | @spoorthi.vn | @plogmanofindia | @ananyaaag98 | Vijay Prabhu | @goel_vartika

176

1

@thestudio.ikigai x @everything_comms

Across different clients, teams, and contexts, we kept noticing the same thing — the problems were often the same.

Different orgs. Different industries. Different scales. Same challenges.

So we built something from that.

Introducing “The Field Kit”, a series of practical toolkits, dropping every week.

Each one focuses on one problem, with steps you can use right away.

No fluff. Just things that actually work.

First drop in 24 hours.

Follow to stay updated.

25

0

We started Studio Ikigai with a question:
Why do the most important problems feel distant or impossible to act on?

Not because people don’t care —
because the stories don’t connect.

We’re a creative studio for systems change communication, working at the intersection of design, storytelling, and systems thinking — to move people, not just inform them.

Our current focus is Climate Epoch, a space for climate storytelling.
Because these systems don’t exist in silos — and neither should their stories.

The work is already happening, in fragments.

Building in this space? Connect.

28

0

Yesterday was World Sustainable Transport Day, and it made me reflect on a journey that has shaped how I see cities.

As a Bicycle Mayor and an urban practitioner working with government agencies, I’ve been part of many layers of sustainable mobility — policy, planning, design, on-ground execution, tactical urbanism, research and community work.

But the most transformative part has been this:

Cycling with the decision-makers of our cities.

These rides aren’t just symbolic.
When you cycle through a city, you see it at human speed and human height.
You feel what pedestrians, cyclists and everyday commuters experience at the edge of the street — something you can never sense from a fast private vehicle.

You notice the real details: surface quality, widths, buffers, tactile pavers, turning radii, raised crossings, traffic calming, seating, organised parking, vendor spaces… everything that makes streets truly people-centric.

Grateful to leaders who chose to see the city this way:
• @jsecretary_scm
• @shravanhardikar
• Shekhar Singh
• @manishaawhale
• @bapusaheb1763 @sandesh.khadtare sunilpawar
and many committed city officials.

Also thankful to former Deputy Mayor Hirabai Ghule and several councillors and representatives who joined these efforts.

And the lighter moments — like the MLA who was unsure about a cycle track… until he saw thousands at a Cyclothon and backed the project instantly. 🚴‍♀️✨

These experiences remind me: Sustainable mobility is built through empathy, shared rides, and seeing cities from the street level.

#SustainableTransportDay #BicycleMayor #ActiveMobility #CyclingCities #UrbanMobility #PeopleCentricStreets #TacticalUrbanism #Pune #PCMC

55

2

In this episode of the OoruLabs podcast, Sathya Sankaran discusses the complexities of urban traffic congestion and bad quality of transportation infrastructure that is hot on social media across the country. He shows how decongestion is not feasible for private vehicles without significant penalties and alternates. Borrowing heavily from work of many thinkers like Karthik Muralidharan, Kaushik Basu, NC Saxena, Joel Mokyr etc, he pieces together cultural influences on urban development and the need for governance reform to improve infrastructure and better outcomes in urban spaces. Watch - Cure for infrastructure woes is deep | S3E22 Link in bio

1

0

In this episode of the OoruLabs podcast, Sathya Sankaran discusses with Ravi Gadepalli 🚍 “Most Indian cities lack enough buses for their population. Bengaluru, with the most buses, still falls short of global benchmarks. Is it just about buying more buses, or is smart route planning the real game-changer?” 🚌. Watch - Can bus corporations handle city growth? | S3E21 link in bio

26

2