IICD considers consultancy and extension activities as crucial and conducts programs at grassroots level with artisans, self-help groups and non-governmental organizations. These are multi-disciplinary in nature and apart from adding value to agencies working in craft development are invaluable in providing a platform for students to interact with craft communities.

These projects are designed to assist large groups of people with indigenous knowledge and traditional skills and aim to help generate livelihood and halt the slide of self respecting creative individuals towards becoming job seeking workers. IICD works towards generating new concepts in capacity building and seeks to increase visibility of craft persons by linking them with buyers who have access to new and quite frequently larger markets.

There is a growing awareness of indigenous narratives, especially in the western world and IICD outreach programs help in bridging the gap between interested people everywhere and craft persons in remote areas.

IICD is the technical agency for clusters under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission SFURTI project which is the scheme for the upliftment of rural traditional industries. The institute is associated with weaving cluster at Bassi in Rajasthan, pottery cluster at Dausa in Rajasthan, phulkari cluster at Patiala in Punjab. Several skill up gradation and training of trainer programs have been undertaken for government organizations.

Phulkari is an ancient craft of embroidery practiced by women in the Punjab of both India and Pakistan and has been under severe threat of extinction. Quality of products had deteriorated and this once beautiful craft form had become a caricature of itself. Our project at Patiala aims to help revive the Phulkari craft by focusing on getting the practitioners to understand its traditions, facilitating the up gradation of skills, introduction of made-up products of everyday use and recreation of traditional phulkari pieces.