Stepping back to move forward: Reflections from the METROPOLIS Team Offsite in February 2026

In February 2026, the METROPOLIS programme team came together for a two-day offsite, an opportunity to step away from day-to-day responsibilities and reflect at an important moment in the programme’s growth.

Held on 12–13 February at the Sangath Goa headquarters, the offsite was designed to be collaborative and discussion-focused rather than presentation-heavy. As METROPOLIS prepares for its next phase of trial recruitment, the gathering created space to pause, reconnect, and think collectively about what comes next.

Across the two days, team members reflected on the past year, sharing what has worked well, discussing challenges, and identifying lessons from implementing a complex research trial. Stepping outside the usual work environment encouraged open conversations and helped strengthen connections across roles and workstreams, building a clearer shared understanding of priorities moving forward.

More than anything, the offsite reinforced the collective effort behind METROPOLIS: a team working together to generate evidence that can help shape accessible, scalable mental health support for young people.

We close with a reflection from Anurag Telang, a team member who works on participant recruitment:

“Beyond the structured sessions, what stood out most was the chance to connect with colleagues outside the usual work setting — openly discussing challenges and collaboratively identifying solutions to strengthen how we function as teams.

If there’s one key learning I’m taking back, it’s this: communication is the foundation of problem-solving and project efficiency.”