[Integrated] Human Practices
Being citizens of the Indian Republic, hailing from this tropical nation, we have explored the multi-dimensional weight of water—its availability, distribution, and abundance. From the Indus Valley civilizations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa to 21st-century science and the dual pressures of climate change, water has always shaped human societies and ecosystems alike. Across this vast geography, natural fluctuations exist, yet when we layer anthropogenic pressures such as heavy metal contamination, the problem becomes far broader and deeper than conventional water pollution. Mercury, chromium, iron, and aluminum, originating from both natural geogenic sources and industrial activity, disrupt biological systems at the sub-cellular level and threaten entire socio-ecological landscapes.
Mapping Nodes and Edges in a Complex System
To navigate this complexity, we mapped nodes and edges across multiple dimensions: challenges, triggers, effects, governance gaps, and intervention goals. We walked the landscapes of local communities, collected surface water samples, and documented anecdotal histories from residents in regions like Jajpur-Sukinda. We also surveyed published contamination studies across India to understand national patterns and studies across Odisha to understand state patterns. Each exploration informed the next: field observations shaped sampling priorities, which in turn influenced our interpretation of historical data, and vice versa.
We structured our analysis into two broad, overlapping frameworks: a thematic Venn, focusing on education, inclusivity, and sustainability, and a zonal Venn, spanning local, state, national, and global scales. Both frameworks allowed us to trace connections among causes, triggers, effects, and outcomes, ensuring a holistic understanding of the problem. Each node revealed not just water chemistry, but the social chemistry of trust, knowledge, and participation.
Through this mapping, several threads emerged vividly:
Key Highlights from Thematic and Zonal Mapping
Our engagement unfolded along two intersecting frameworks, each illuminating different dimensions of the water challenge while remaining deeply interconnected. The thematic Venn explored education, inclusivity, and sustainability, showing how awareness, access, and durable practices spread within communities. The zonal Venn traced impacts across local, state, national, and global scales, revealing patterns that guide practical interventions. Each framework helped us identify nodes where action could be most effective and connections where interventions would ripple through social and ecological systems.
- Challenges Thematic mapping highlighted knowledge gaps, inequitable access to safe water, and communities with limited decision-making power. Zonal mapping showed these challenges amplify along industrial belts and agricultural plains, affecting entire districts and states.
- Triggers Both frameworks revealed the dual pressures of natural geochemistry and anthropogenic activity, from chromite mining in Odisha to mercury disposal in Tamil Nadu. Locally, household exposure intersects with industrial effluents, creating layered risk zones.
- Effects Chronic health outcomes, including neurological and renal damage, emerged as a shared concern. Thematic analysis emphasized vulnerable groups and awareness deficits, while zonal mapping traced contamination through irrigation networks, crops, and regional water systems.
- Governance Gaps Across scales, monitoring and regulatory enforcement were inconsistent. Thematic mapping showed community-level lack of agency, while zonal perspectives highlighted fragmented policies and infrastructure gaps at state and national levels.
- Goals and Interventions Thematic insights drove design choices for education, accessibility, and sustainability. Zonal mapping guided scalable deployment strategies, ensuring modules and filtration systems like POSEIDON can be adapted to local hydrology, socio-economic realities, and contamination profiles.
Together, these Venn frameworks ensured that our interventions are informed by both human and environmental realities, connecting local experience to broader systemic patterns. They shaped a solution that is technically robust, socially inclusive, and sensitive to the complexity of water contamination in India.
Walking through communities, collecting stories, and witnessing everyday coping strategies, we realized that these challenges cannot be understood from data alone. Sampling wells, noting turbidity and trace metals, and cross-referencing reports gave a scientific backbone. Combining this with conversations at schools, local governance offices, and workshops revealed the human side: concerns about taste, odor, long-term health, doubts about maintenance, and aspirations for a better future.
At the national scale, patterns emerge that are intricate and alarming. Industrial corridors intersect agricultural plains, urban centers overlap wetland ecosystems, and groundwater aquifers thread through both mineral-rich and polluted zones. A single technology cannot be universally applied without adaptation. This recognition shaped POSEIDON—a modular, low-energy, peptide-on-bead filtration system customizable to local hydrology, socio-economic context, and contamination profile.
Education and STEM engagement became inseparable from our technical work. Workshops, school visits, and STEM Week activities translated abstract chemistry and synthetic biology into tangible experiences. Students and teachers interacted with filtration modules, engaged in map-based and story-driven activities, and explored pathways in biology and engineering. These activities fostered curiosity, responsibility, and local capacity-building, ensuring communities became informed and empowered stakeholders.
Engaging Stakeholders and Collecting Insights
Conversations with local communities revealed the day-to-day realities of water insecurity: wells yielding discolored water, irrigation canals carrying mixed-metal runoff, and households dependent on untreated sources. NGOs provided insights into operational challenges, while teachers and students emphasized the importance of awareness. Recurring themes emerged: systems must be low-maintenance, affordable, locally repairable, and transparent.
Field sampling and surveys were complemented by laboratory analysis, bridging anecdotal knowledge with quantitative measures. Together, these activities guided the design of our cartridge-based filtration system, ensuring it aligns with real-world needs.
Iterative Design Shaped by Human Practices
Insights from mapping, fieldwork, and stakeholder engagement directly influenced our technical decisions. Cartridge geometry and bead packing were designed for gravity flow to minimize energy needs. Iconography in manuals addressed low-literacy contexts. Regeneration protocols were simplified for predictable scheduling. By embedding these learnings, POSEIDON evolved from a laboratory concept into a tool responsive to the socio-environmental realities of the communities it aims to serve.
Connecting Zonal and Thematic Perspectives
Through the zonal Venn, we positioned POSEIDON within local (village wells), state (industrial belts), national (policy and regulatory frameworks), and global (SDG alignment) contexts. The thematic Venn ensured that education, inclusivity, and sustainability were core design principles, not afterthoughts. Each connection illuminated a new dimension: where governance gaps exist, which triggers are most acute, and which interventions are practical and ethical. These overlapping perspectives reinforced our commitment to a solution that is socially, environmentally, and technically grounded.
Synthesis
Our integrated human practices approach revealed that addressing heavy metal contamination requires more than chemical engineering—it demands continuous dialogue with affected communities, informed engagement with policy frameworks, and iterative adaptation of technical solutions. By mapping multidimensional nodes and edges, collecting samples, and listening to those directly impacted, we ensured POSEIDON responds to both scientific challenges and human realities.
This holistic perspective allowed us to align our project with ethical, sustainable, and practical outcomes, demonstrating that effective solutions emerge from the intersection of biology, engineering, and social insight. For more on how these insights guided deployment pathways, see implementation, and to explore the integration of inclusivity and governance, continue to inclusivity.
Overview of our Integrated Human Practices Journey
| Month | Overview / Key Activities |
|---|---|
| February | 1. Highlighting the problem — initial scoping, literature scan and community reconnaissance. 2. Framing research questions and human-practices objectives. |
| March | 1. IHP design — drafting the Integrated Human Practices framework and venns (thematic & zonal). 2. Planning stakeholder engagements and outreach calendar. |
| April | 1. National magnitude study — systematic literature synthesis and compilation (~300 points/zones). 2. Prioritising hotspots and drafting national report outlines. |
| May | 1. State study — focused assessment for Odisha (industry, mining belts, tribal impacts). 2. Mapping local case studies and IKS (Indigenous Knowledge Systems) interviews. |
| June | 1. Field sampling & regulatory review — water sampling, lab analysis, and comparing results with CPCB/BIS standards. 2. Safety & biosafety protocol development for lab and field work. |
| July | 1. Education & school visits — TLM delivery, demos, quizzes, and map/story activities in local schools. 2. Iterating TLM based on classroom feedback and language accessibility checks. |
| August | 1. Representation at AIIM & public engagement — presenting project at All India iGEM Meet and public events. 2. Cultural outreach — Independence Day skit with Yavanika, campus and community awareness performances. |
| September | 1. Compilation & governance gap study — synthesising engaged materials, policy gaps, and stakeholder inputs. 2. Preparing implementation pathway and pilot site selection criteria. |
| October | 1. Village visits & Sukinda stakeholder interviews — in-depth community consultations and documentation of lived impacts. 2. Finalising goals, pilot designs, and community co-design plans for deployment. |
| Additional / Cross-cutting | 1. Continuous: Responsible innovation & safety audits — ethics reviews, iGEM safety forms, and dual-use assessment. 2. Continuous: Documentation & open resources — creating TLM repo, discussion pages, and data links (literature CSV). |
Integrated Reflection
Reflecting across our mapping, engagement, and design cycles, the HP framework demonstrated that technological innovation and human insight must evolve together. The lessons gathered from stakeholder consultations, educational collaborations, and responsible innovation dialogues shaped not only our device but also our team’s understanding of ethical science.
- Explore our Collaborations page for detailed partnerships and joint initiatives.
- Explore our Engagements page for detailed engagement activities and initiatives.