Good Life X

Workshops for the Hyacinthesis Accelerator have officially begun 🌱

Workshop 01 – Introduction to Supply Chain & Marketing, conducted by Programme Lead at Good Life X, marked the beginning of Cohort 01’s journey to reimagine Water Hyacinth as a regenerative material capable of creating value for both people and the planet.

Bringing together the six selected enterprises from across the island, the session moved beyond business fundamentals and opened up space for curiosity, exchange, and new ways of thinking. Through conversations and interactive activities, the cohort unpacked questions such as:

💭 How can smaller enterprises benefit from business and marketing perspectives they may not have previously encountered?
🌿 Could ventures already working with natural materials expand their practices through experimentation with Water Hyacinth?
🤝 What can established enterprises learn from smaller businesses that thrive through precision, craftsmanship, and attention to detail?
🔍 How do larger environmental and economic forces shape individual business realities, opportunities and entrepreneurial journeys?

Stay tuned for the series of workshops to come, where the cohort will continue experimenting, learning, and building new possibilities with invasive Water Hyacinth.

How do we decide what something is worth? 🪙

Is value found in the material itself — or in the skill, story, time, and people behind it?

Sometimes the things we dismiss as waste hold far more than meets the eye. Perhaps the bigger question isn’t what it costs, but where we are choosing to place value.

🔗 Read the full article 'What Are We Really Paying For?' by Tharindi Rangoda: https://goodlifex.substack.com/p/what-are-we-really-paying-for?r=1zlsfc

With support from the European Union through the strategy and BMZ, students from 4 state universities spent time with the cohort for the CIRCULAR Economy in the Food Sector programme. It enabled the students to pitch their innovative solutions to the cohort alongside academics and experts in their respective fields.

For founders, it was a chance to reflect on their current operations and to be exposed to different perspectives or approaches. For the students, it meant testing their ideas in front of a real audience, coming face to face with the challenges entrepreneurs navigate in real life.

What emerged was something bigger than a community event — new collaborations, interdisciplinary dialogue, and a reminder that a circularity mindset opens more doors than it closes.

FAO Sri Lanka Expertise France European Union in Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Introducing Cohort 1 of Hyacinthesis Accelerator: founders of 6 enterprises across the island on a journey to reimagine invasive Water Hyacinth 🪻

From handicrafts and home décor to fashion-forward experimentation, this collective of entrepreneurs, artisans, and community-led innovators has taken up the challenge of transforming an environmental threat into regenerative, locally rooted solutions — exploring new possibilities through craft, material innovation, and circular design.

This is only the beginning. Stay tuned to learn more about the people, processes, and possibilities taking root beneath the surface 🌱

What if the future of sustainability has been here all along? What if regeneration was not just a concept but lived and practiced as a way of life? 🌱

🔗 Explore "The Soil Remembers" on Substack and learn more about what modern systems can learn from ancient wisdom

In September 2025, Good Life X came to Vavuniya and Mannar with a question: what does regenerative business look like in the North of Sri Lanka?

What we found were eight women already doing the work — farming organically, crafting by hand, baking from scratch, creating with purpose.

🧵 AN Fashion: Transforming fabric waste into new product lines
👜 PJ Bag Manufacturing: Eco-friendly bag producer with a growing export demand
🌱 PN Agri: Award-winning organic farm growing fruits and vegetables
🪡 ST Creation: Aari embroidery business, keeping a rare and beautiful craft alive 🌿 Ashwin Products: Ayurvedic and herbal care brand rooted in traditional knowledge
🎂 Dilani's Delight Cakes: Beloved local bakery known for its craftsmanship
🌾 Good Life: Organic food brand sourced directly from farmers in the North
🌴 Kala Palmyra Production Centre: 20-year-old palmyrah-based craft enterprise

With the support of our partners at WUSC under the GRIT Project, the businesses participated in THRIVE Masterclasses, Design Labs, business diagnostics, expert mentorship, alumni visits, and community events that brought the Northern startup ecosystem together. These eight entrepreneurs came out with clearer direction, stronger networks, and regenerative business models that are more ready for what's next.

This is what it looks like when you invest in women in the North 🌱

As Avurudu ushered in new beginnings, April became a moment to reflect, reconnect, and renew momentum for the journey ahead.

Here's a look at Good Life X this April and what's new on the horizon.

🔗 Follow along our Substack for more! Link in bio: https://tr.ee/tDeS7NPgvW

On World Intellectual Property Day, 'The Soil Remembers' explores what happens when extractive systems slowly price communities out of their relationship with the land — and what we stand to lose when indigenous knowledge, regenerative practices, and rooted livelihoods disappear with them 🌱

Can we build economies that allow people to stay connected to the wisdom that has sustained ecosystems for generations?

🔗 Read the full piece on Substack. Link in bio.