FUEL Open Studio

A playground for wisdom catalysts

For over a decade, Project FUEL has been working to make wisdom a shared and living practice—collecting life lessons, designing wisdom-based learning experiences, and co-creating with communities worldwide. But this work cannot and should not be done alone. 

If you're an individual curious to explore how wisdom can be lived, learned, and passed on.

Or an organisation looking to embed wisdom into your programs, classrooms, or community spaces…

Join the Studio

Through storytelling, cultural practices, and tech-powered tools, we design, prototype, bounce ideas off one another and try things we’ve never tried before.

Our Approach

The Open Studio journey is anchored in ‘Harvest-Play-Present’ methodology designed by Project FUEL.

  • Step into the role of a Khoji — a seeker of stories and meaning.

    • Recognize the wisdom keepers in your community — from people to spaces to ecology 

    • Capture wisdom through immersive, intergenerational conversations, field notes and observations

    • Collaborate with them to document folk traditions, rituals, recipes for wellbeing and cultural artefacts.

  • Turning stories into something you can actually touch, see, or experience like an artist.

    • Analyze collected wisdom and start spotting patterns, hidden gems, and aha moments.

    • Try out creative formats—storyboards, games, audio installations, community exhibits. Sketch scenes, scribble ideas, build from conversations... and boom, the core insight pops up when you least expect it!

    • Ideate, prototype, and refine. Use prompts, sticky notes, half-baked ideas—whatever gets you going. Version 3.5? Absolutely counts.

    • Embrace the mess!

  • It’s showtime! This is where your wisdom artefact steps into the world.

    • Design ways to share your creation that are engaging, inviting, and easy to access

    • Make it interactive - sparking questions, conversations and collaborations that amplifies the impact  

    • And finally, think beyond the showcase—how can this wisdom be kept alive? Can it be passed on, referenced, or reimagined again and again?

Design in Action

  • Learning tools & modules

    Design intangible wisdom into tangible activities to meet your learners needs.

  • Public art projects

    Tapping into community wisdom and creative mediums for social change.

  • New Media

    Play with wisdom and data to create digital storytelling exhibits and archives.

  • Books and Films

    Create culturally informed and relevant content for communities.

  • Spaces & Experiences

    Design & curate gatherings that celebrate shared humanity and ecology.

  • Dream your own

    Have another idea brewing? Want to leverage the studio to give it shape? Write to us!

In our latest Studio edition

12 educators and community builders stepped into a two-month virtual journey as playmates and co-authored 8 illustrated storybooks.

Together, they gathered stories and wisdom rooted in the communities, memories, and ecologies they live in. From a participatory researcher in Oxford to an educator in the mountains of Uttarakhand, from a filmmaker in Chennai to a game designer in Bangalore, each brought their questions, cultures, and creative spark to the Studio.

Along the way, they wore many hats—wisdom seekers, artists, storytellers—shaping their insights into beautifully illustrated storybooks. 

This edition was supported by Earth Company and brought to life in collaboration with Storyfave.

Download your copy
Browse the bookshelf

Our Studio Shenanigans

Calming rituals to settle in. Stimulating conversations with wisdom keepers, thought leaders, and creative ninjas. Learnings from everyday moments beyond classrooms. Collaborating on wild ideas with fellow playmates. Unexpected metaphors that make us pause. Digital post-its, long voice notes, and WhatsApp heart reacts. Screens that somehow felt like shared tables. Wiggling and twirling to peppy tunes.

Storyboarding at 17,867 feet—somewhere between takeoff and landing. Prototyping version 1... 2... 3... 3.5... final... final.final! Questions that don’t demand quick answers. Sitting with the hmmms. Celebrating the ahas. Winding down with story readings. Swapping lunch tales over evening tea. Using sketch pens and AI to bring your ideas to life.

Making friends with wisdom. Becoming students again.


And crafting a space where your drafts, thoughts, and almost-ideas find room to grow—and become something real.

Want to be a playmate?

Step into the Studio. With your curiousity, intention and half-baked ideas.

Yes please!

Join the tribe

  • Arati Nagaraj

    Director, Abhyudaya-SPJIMR, Mumbai

  • Archana Pillai

    Educator, JBCN International School, Mumbai

  • Ipsita Sarkar

    Educator, Learning Design Lead, YouCAN

  • Kankana Raha

    School Leader, iTeach DBP School, Panvel

  • Neelashi Mangal

    Educator, Maitreya Universal Education School, Bodhgaya

  • Pooja Sharma

    Founder, The Sarvodya Collective

  • Priyanka Mukherjee

    Program and Fundraising Manager, Dakshini Prayash, Madurdaha, West Bengal

  • Ramakrishnan Muthulingam

    Filmmaker, Earth Fellow, YouCan

  • Rigzen Wangmo

    Founder, Village Lab Foundation, Ladakh

  • Shrutika Silswal

    Associate Director-Programs, Simple Education Foundation, Gular, Uttarakhand

  • Yogesh Kumar

    Fellow, Teach for India

  • Zeba Kokan

    Independent Researcher