Sustainability & Collaboration
"How do you sustain yourself doing research" is indeed the most important question for "the future of computing". It's practically impossible to sustain that research outside very lucky geographical niches and networks of support.
Rather than betting everything on large projects, we focus on bite-sized experiments that build on each other. Each successful seed grows confidence and capacity for more ambitious research.
Home-Based Research
Operating from a home setting shapes our approach fundamentally. We're realistic about our makeshift setup and indie lab capabilities. Our mission isn't necessarily to create novel scientific breakthroughs, but to understand current systems and establish evidence for hyperlocal questions that matter to our neighborhood.
Our resource limitations become methodological strengths. Rather than seeing home-based research as compromise, we treat constraints as design parameters that force innovative approaches:
- Equipment limitations drive DIY sensor development and community tool building
- Budget constraints force creative partnerships and resource sharing models
- Space limitations encourage distributed research across multiple community locations
- Time constraints prioritize rapid iteration and community-responsive pivoting
When specialized knowledge, teams, or equipment are needed that we don't have, our approach is:
- Connect with people who do have the expertise
- Acknowledge our limitations openly
- See what useful things emerge when you create basic conditions for curiosity, connection, and collaborative experimentation
Community-Led Research
- Community members identify questions and drive investigation
- Community members contribute time, knowledge, and resources based on direct benefit to their lives
- Findings owned by community, shared according to community preferences
- Sustainability comes from mutual aid and reciprocal knowledge exchange rather than external grants
- Investment in training community members as researchers creates long-term sustainability beyond any individual project or researcher. The knowledge and skills remain in the neighborhood.
- Deploy community-operated monitoring and data collection systems
Academic Partnerships
- Collaborate with universities and institutions on neighborhood-relevant studies
- Translate academic findings for community accessibility and action
- Provide local context and community connections for broader research
Independent Investigation
- Research driven by alwaysbecooking curiosity and community priorities
- Focus on questions that established institutions might not prioritize
- Pursue high-risk, unconventional approaches that wouldn't align with typical funding timelines
Funding Diversification
Sustainability comes from diversified funding portfolio combining government grants, foundation support, and international collaboration rather than dependence on single funding sources:
- Government research agencies (DST SERB/ANRF Core Research Grants, state-level research councils) for environmental and community science
- International development organizations focused on climate adaptation, community development, and traditional knowledge preservation
- Foundation funding for social justice, environmental sustainability, open science, and community technology initiatives (typically $5K-$150K range)
- Supranational research programs (EU Horizon Europe, UN agencies) for heritage and environmental work
- Citizen science and environmental funding from space agencies, environmental protection agencies, and global environment facilities
- Technology for social good funding supporting open source projects, AI initiatives, and community technology sovereignty programs
- International collaboration through research exchanges, fellowship programs, academic partnerships, and cross-cultural knowledge preservation networks