
In an ambitious move to foster innovation and creativity and promote free spaces among youngsters, the tourism department in association with the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is gearing up to set up ‘Freedom Squares’ — a dynamic, 24x7 space for idea exchange, collaboration and innovation — across the state.
These vibrant women-friendly hubs are expected to offer an open environment with co-working spaces, free food, high-speed internet, and accommodation, where individuals with access can freely discuss ideas, develop products and projects, and network with like-minded peers.
The space is designed to attract youngsters providing all essential resources.
‘Freedom Squares’ is one of the key projects in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the tourism department and KSUM. The plan is to set up 14 Freedom Squares, one in each district. The aim is to provide a collaborative environment where students, industry leaders, and investors can connect and share ideas at the district level.
An official with the tourism department said the first-ever Freedom Square will come up in the state capital near Technopark Phase IV in the parcel of land behind the Digital University of Kerala campus. The official said such a space is being planned as part of the ‘design policy’ of the state.
“Such places are lacking in our city and this will attract more youngsters. This will be a leisure space with a lake nearby. And we are planning to introduce some more activities as part of the project,” says the official.
CEO of KSUM Anoop Ambika says a couple of Freedom Squares will be established in the state this financial year itself. These spaces would eventually act as a district-level hub of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDC) — a flagship programme of KSUM to promote entrepreneurship among the student and academic fraternity in the state.
“We have IEDC clusters in many educational institutions and we envision Freedom Squares to be a district-level hub for the youngsters part of IEDC. Our aim is to develop such spaces that are more free and operational round the clock so that individuals can come together and discuss ideas and generate products. We will help them materialise the ideas by creating opportunities to collaborate with angel investors and other corporates,” Anoop tells TNIE.
Such spaces are expected to empower individual innovators and help them integrate with educational institutions, facilitating idea exchange between students, faculty, industry experts and investors.
This will encourage solutions for local social challenges, promoting sustainable development goals, empowering local communities and providing capacity building for all stakeholders.
KSUM is planning to woo investments from corporate entities to implement the initiative in the state.
“We are trying to get big companies to sponsor one Freedom Square as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. There are many big companies and such commitments will benefit them too,” Anoop says.
The Freedom Square is especially relevant at a time when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a recent event, spoke about transforming Kerala into an international knowledge hub, especially for higher education. According to him, emphasis would also be given to knowledge creation focusing on advancing research and innovation.
“Strong, society-connected knowledge can only be built through robust research, and this area must be further developed,” Pinarayi had said.
And such spaces where ideas can be shared and fostered are lacking in the state, says Rajeev Krishnan, state convener of Prathidwani, an organisation working for the welfare of techies.
“For discussions, we often go to cafes. However, they are crowded more often than not. Such ideal spaces would be a boon for the techies. We will have somewhere to go and discuss and develop ideas,” he says.