Odisha is among India’s most climate-vulnerable states, having endured 20+ major cyclones in just two decades. For its communities, clean energy and adaptation are deeply tied to sustaining livelihoods and building resilience. As part of its Clean Futures Odisha initiative, Oneworld Colab met and mapped some of the grassroots organisations in Bhubaneswar last month.  
 
The collective insight: Odisha’s resilience emerges from the ground up, where energy, adaptation, and livelihoods are woven together by communities themselves.  
 
The question: how can we work together to achieve a clean energy future that contributes to adequate energy security at the household and village level, higher household incomes, improved health outcomes, lesser drudgery especially for women in Odisha.  
 
We were humbled by the breadth and richness of their work, what we share here are just glimpses of how each is tackling parts of the climate-livelihoods puzzle:  
 
1/ Udyama – using biochar, biogas, and solar to strengthen climate-smart farming systems– enabling collectives to access solar irrigation, securing crops against erratic rainfall.  
2/ Professional Assistance For Development Action (PRADAN) – enabling collectives to access solar irrigation, securing crops against erratic rainfall.  
3/ Harsha Trust– connecting farmer groups to legal rights and entitlements, unlocking access to clean energy schemes.  
4/ Center for Youth and Social Development – embedding climate-smart panchayats, where governance links energy, adaptation, and local livelihoods.  
5/Society for Promoting Rural Education and development (SPREAD) – supporting tribal women artisans with solar-enabled weaving and micro-enterprises.  
6/ Nirman Odisha – advancing clean cooking and solar in cyclone-prone Kendrapara, reducing risk for vulnerable households.  
7/ Vasundhara Odisha – strengthening 300+ producer groups by tying forest rights advocacy to renewable energy access.  
8/ Gram Vikas – enabling 200,000+ households to manage renewable WASH and energy services in drought-hit regions.  
9/ Youth4Water-India – mobilizing a statewide youth network to champion climate and energy awareness.  
10/ Odisha Sandbox (OSB) – advancing a green rural economy, integrating sustainable development and climate resilience in Odisha’s rural, coastal, and tribal regions.  
 
We know that there are several others active in this field and we have already initiated outreach beyond the list above. If you are an organization and/or part of a network/collaborative working on climate, agriculture, adaptation, energy, livelihoods and/or gender in Odisha, and have not heard from us yet, please let us know. We would love to connect and learn from you.