- Project Saathi connected UK undergraduates and Mumbai youth through meaningful cultural exchange
- Participants engaged in community immersion, collaborative projects, and peer-led learning experiences
- The initiative highlights the role of global partnerships in advancing societal impact and experiential education
MUMBAI, India, June 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), through its community-based education initiative Abhyudaya, recently hosted six undergraduate students from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), UK, for Project Saathi, a week-long cross-cultural immersion programme that brought together two very different worlds in the shared pursuit of learning, empathy, and human connection. It marked the first collaboration of its kind, creating a unique platform for cross-cultural exchange and experiential learning.
Held from May 23–29, 2026 in Mumbai, the programme paired MMU students with Abhyudaya’s ‘Sitaras’ — high-potential young students from underserved communities in Mumbai’s K-West ward (Andheri West). Through one-on-one collaboration, community engagement, cultural exploration, and creative projects, participants gained firsthand exposure to diverse perspectives, lived realities, and shared aspirations.
Cross-cultural understanding and global perspectives
For the Sitaras, the programme provided an opportunity to engage with peers from a different cultural background, build international friendships, and gain exposure to global perspective. For the MMU students, the experience offered valuable insights into lived social and economic realities, aspirations and challenges of communities in urban India, while encouraging deeper reflection on social impact and inclusion.
Arati Nagaraj, Director, Abhyudaya, observed, “Project Saathi demonstrates what education can achieve when it moves beyond the institution and into the world. For our Sitaras, being paired with peers from Manchester Met was a deeply affirming experience. It reinforced that their stories, intelligence, and potential are valued far beyond their immediate communities.”
What the week looked like
The programme opened on Monday, May 25 with an introduction to Abhyudaya led by the Sitaras themselves, followed by icebreaker activities. The objectives for the week were set collaboratively: to explore and document different cultures through creative outputs, to develop a shared artefact showcasing combined talents, and to present the resulting work to an audience at the end of the programme.
Subsequent days were structured around sustained collaborative work sessions interspersed with immersive community experiences. Participants undertook home visits in K-West ward — a defining feature of the programme, designed to move abstract conversations about inequality, aspiration, and access into deeply personal and human encounters. The week concluded with final presentations, where each pair shared the creative work they had built together across the week, followed by a farewell and celebration at the Abhyudaya Centre.
A partnership built on shared purpose
The MMU cohort was led and accompanied by Professor Liz Warren, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University, who visited the Abhyudaya Centre during the week to observe the programme in person.
Reflecting on the experience, Professor Warren described the programme as an example of education at it best. “Seeing our students working alongside the remarkable Sitaras was truly special. The partnership between SPJIMR, the Abhyudaya initiative, and Manchester Met demonstrates the power of education to transform lives, businesses, and communities, and to create positive social impact.”
The partnership between SPJIMR and MMU is grounded in a shared philosophy: that the most enduring learning happens not through instruction alone, but through genuine relationship. Project Saathi operationalises that philosophy at the level of individual human connection.
For SPJIMR, the collaboration with MMU represents a natural extension of Abhyudaya’s broader ambition: to demonstrate that socially engaged management education is not a niche supplement to mainstream business schooling, but one of its most powerful forms.
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About SPJIMR
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) is one of India’s leading postgraduate management institutes. It is ranked by Business Today as one of the country’s top five business schools, and rated by the Positive Impact Rating as one of the top five schools worldwide for societal impact. Known for its innovative and socially conscious approach to management education, research, and community engagement, SPJIMR aims to influence managerial practice and promote the value-based growth of its students, alumni, organisations and its leaders, and society. SPJIMR holds the international ‘Triple Crown’ of accreditations from EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA.
Visit SPJIMR.org for more information.
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