Quest Learning Observatory

There is a need in our times of accelerated climate change to pivot societies towards a livable and thriving future for all of us. 

Human-induced climate change is upon us and it is increasingly affecting every region of the world through more intense weather and climate extremes. Cities are a major contributor to pollution and climate change, and at the same time, they hold huge potential to be centres of transformation. According to recent census, about 60% of the country’s population will live in cities by 2050 - that is an estimation of 996 million people, at India's rate of urbanization. 

Societies, institutes, organisations and industries can no longer afford to continue to be part of the problem responsible for accelerating climate change and will instead need to see major transformations towards a future that cares for people and the planet. In order to imagine and create solutions that are designed for such emergent futures, we need radical spaces that pave the way for new ways of learning and working together. 

For over 18 years, Quest Alliance has worked closely with diverse partners to promote the effective and responsible use of technology to scale Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship. Our impact has grown from an initial 10000 students in 2006 to currently reaching over 400,000 youth and children per year across India. 

Quest’s programs - Anandshala, Secondary School Program, MyQuest, Master Coach and Change Leaders Academy are each different approaches to facilitate collaborative learning networks towards systemic change. Quest’s approach to identifying and approaching challenges has been responsive, experiential, adaptive and empathetic to all stakeholders involved - students, teachers, learners, facilitators, administrators, parents. Quest measures its impact by considering interventions as holistic, interconnected and long-term, by viewing the learning sector as such - an interconnected, holistic ecosystem with long-term effects from interventions. 

This has also invited deeper insights as well as positioning of the organisation in the learning ecosystem as a rich node between stakeholders on the ground, governing and decision making bodies at regional and state level and the network of changemakers in the fields of education, entrepreneurship and employability. 

From inception, Quest strives to create an organisational culture that mirrors the environment that they work to build for youth in their programs - enabling individuals towards self-learning. Continuous learning is at the heart of Quest's culture, measuring success by the growth of each individual who works in the organisation. The organisation is a learning site for learning and our practices become the blueprint for organisational growth as we grow and adapt to what is best for individuals, teams and the organisation. 

One of the goals of the Learning Observatory is to set the conditions, potential and platforms for interactions and for exchange between various stakeholders in the learning ecosystem - inviting collaboration, mapping trends in the sector and engaging in dialogue. 

The Observatory will be a space to incubate new ideas and create learning experiences that enable individuals and communities to access knowledge and practices towards transformation and regenerative cultures. 

The Observatory also aims to create participatory ownership of different spaces as well as the engagements and experiences created in them - for the observatory to evolve through an emergent process. 

Another goal of the Observatory is playing a role in facilitating and guiding mind shift changes for various groups towards individual and collective change and transformation.