THE NEW ERA DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE (NEDI), founded in 1987, is located in Panchgani, Maharashtra State, India. Its driving force is the belief that sustainable development occurs when individuals and communities are empowered to make decisions about their daily lives which, in turn, are translated into simple development actions.

NEDI offers one-year certificate and two-year diploma programs containing four components: a vocational or small business component to provide for one's livelihood, a moral and spiritual component, a service component which stresses the use of skills and training for the well-being of society, and a cultural component to engender a sense of cultural identity and an appreciation for unity in diversity.

In order to learn about the strengthening of village life and to build the capacity of rural populations, NEDI has conducted a number of community-based projects in various parts of the highly diverse country it serves. These have included initiatives in the areas of environmental protection, sanitation, health, child education, the advancement of women, and small-scale income generation, as well as activities designed to reinforce the positive aspects of Indian culture. NEDI's curricula are based on the Findings of its grassroots projects. Combining technical and scientific information with spiritual principles that it sees as basic to moral development, its materials have been welcomed into the programs of schools and other agencies throughout India.

Over 800 individuals have undergone training at NEDl's main campus, and hundreds more have participated in its outreach programs. Collaboration with international development agencies has allowed NEDI to document and share its experience with a network of partners in India and internationally.

"Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and as a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words."

- Baha'u'llah