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Dr. Souresh Cornet

Assistant Professor, School for Sustainable Futures, Amritapuri

Qualification: BA, MA, Ph.D
soureshcornet@am.amrita.edu
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Research Interest: Sustainable Development, Social Innovation, Frugal Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, Circular Economy, Social Business Models, Participatory research, Collaborative Design, Qualitative Methods, Systems Thinking

Bio

Dr. Souresh Cornet is an Assistant Professor whose research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable development. Operating at the intersection of development studies, sustainability, and community-centric business models, his work explores social innovation, the circular economy, and complexity theories to build individual and community self-reliance.

Dr. Souresh obtained his Ph.D. in Management from the Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore, where his doctoral research focused on understanding the process of developing social innovation at the grassroots level in rural India. Prior to his academic tenure, he worked extensively in Europe as environment consultant, advising European municipalities and the European Commission on environmental strategy.

His research essentially applies qualitative methodologies to study how social value is created sustainably in developing countries. To ensure solutions are grounded in local realities, Dr. Souresh utilizes participatory research methods, including Human-Centered Design (HCD), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Collaborative Co-Design.

Bringing a global perspective to local challenges, Dr. Souresh is actively involved in the Live-in-Labs® program. In this role, he facilitates participatory processes and co-creation workshops, bridging the gap between academia and rural communities to turn grassroots insights into scalable, socially impactful initiatives.

Publications

Journal Article

Year : 2026

Participatory engagement and lived experiences of early warning and preparedness in two rural communities in Kerala, South India

Cite this Research Publication : Samira Pfeiffer, Hari Chandana Ekkirala, Sudha Arlikatti, Souresh Cornet, Saskia Werners, Maneesha Vinodini Ramesh, Participatory engagement and lived experiences of early warning and preparedness in two rural communities in Kerala, South India, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Elsevier BV, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105986

Publisher : Elsevier BV

Year : 2024

Technical and Economic Sustainability of Alternative Livelihood Strategies at the Grassroots: A Case Study in Byse, Karnataka, India

Cite this Research Publication : Souresh Cornet, P. K. Viswanathan, Jake Winkler, Neeraja Praveen, Angan Sengupta, S. Sneha, P. Geetha, Technical and Economic Sustainability of Alternative Livelihood Strategies at the Grassroots: A Case Study in Byse, Karnataka, India, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, Springer Nature Singapore, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-6675-8_5

Publisher : Springer Nature Singapore

Year : 2024

Sustainability education and community development in higher education using participatory and case based approaches in India

Cite this Research Publication : Cornet, S., Barpanda, S., Guidi, M. A. D., & Viswanathan, P. K. (2024). Sustainability education and community development in higher education using participatory and case based approaches in India. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Impact Factor - 3.6

Publisher : International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Year : 2021

Exploring social innovation through co-creation in rural India using action research

Cite this Research Publication : Cornet, S., & Barpanda, S. (2021). Exploring social innovation through co-creation in rural india using action research. Social Enterprise Journal, 17(2), 240-259. (IF=2.75)

Publisher : Emerald Publishing Limited

Conference Proceedings

Year : 2023

Integrating Technology, Local Knowledge, and Participatory Approach: Real-time Detection System for Mitigating Human-Animal Conflicts in Rural India

Cite this Research Publication : Pranavan, V. M., Aakash, S., Balakrishnan, S., Sai, V., & Cornet, S. (2023, October). Integrating Technology, Local Knowledge, and Participatory Approach: Real-time Detection System for Mitigating Human-Animal Conflicts in Rural India. In 2023 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 217-224). IEEE.

Publisher : IEEE

Year : 2021

Sustainable solution to address waste management and energy challenges in rural India

Cite this Research Publication : Aditya Lokare, M.S. Sri Harish, G.L. Bhargav, Shreebhuvan Raghul, S. Thangavelu, Souresh Cornet, Sustainable solution to address waste management and energy challenges in rural India, 2021 IEEE 9th Region 10 Humanitarian Technology Conference (R10-HTC), IEEE, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1109/r10-htc53172.2021.9641529

Publisher : IEEEXplore

Education
  • 2016-2024 : PhD
    Area: Social Innovation
    Title of PhD Work: “Uncovering The Process Of Social Innovation At The Grassroots: A Community-Based Qualitative Study In Rural India”
    Institute: Amrita Schol of Business, Coimbatore
  • 2010 -2012 : MA Business Administration, Sustainability Management Specialisation
    University: Montpellier Business School (MBS) (France)
  • 2010 : BA Honors in Management
    University of Huddersfield (UK)
Experience
Sl.No: Teaching / Industry Firm Position Location Period
1 Teaching Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Assistant Professor – School for Sustainable Futures Amritapuri, India 2025- now
2 Teaching Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Program coordinator – International students and projects: Live-in-Labs®, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures Amritapuri, India 2016- now
3 BGE45 (France) Social Entrepreneurship Program Manager Chartres, France 2013-2016
4 Deloitte Consulting (France) Sustainable Development Consultant Paris, France 2011-2012
Awards
  • AIRA Innovation Award 2021, 2024 recipient
  • Served as a reviewer for the following Q1 Scopus-indexed journals –
    • Journal of Social Entrepreneurship
    • Voluntas
    • Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
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