Society, Culture and Peace

Enhancing socio-cultural well-being, ensuring justice and equity

Featured here are initiatives to enhance social and cultural aspects of human life: the revival and progressive use of visual, performing, and other arts, of the myriad crafts of the country, of threatened or submerged languages, of food and cuisine diversity, and other such cultural traits and processes. They also cover the various struggles and constructive movements to achieve social justice, to reduce inequalities and inequities of various kinds including caste, class, gender, ethnicity, and religion, and to create dignity in living for those currently oppressed and exploited. Finally, they include movements to generate ethical living and thinking, and spread values such as simplicity, honesty, frugality, and tolerance.

Korchi: Towards Adivasi Self-Governance

They strive for environmental conservation, cultural identity, and gender equality, forging a path towards a sustainable future, through collective activism.

IS RECYCLING CLAY THE SOLUTION?: The ecological impact of materials used in the Ganesh Chaturthi festival and a comparative review of various alternatives 

The shift from a temporary idol to a permanent idol is the final and ideal change that would ensure that there is no impact through immersion whatsoever.

Walking along the Indus

Our existential challenge is how we can nurture ethics of care and bring  discourse that can alter the way we see the rest of nature.

Churning The Earth

Ordinary people constructing alternatives like sustainable farming, community-led ecotourism and conservation, revival of crafts, activity-based learning, decentralised water harvesting, local governance and direct democracy.

CONFRONTING BEAUTY: A COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION

How does one resist consumer culture and also aspire to greater self-awareness when the prevailing social winds are headed frantically in another direction?

TOWARDS SECURING HIMALAYA FROM DISASTERS: A DEMAND CHARTER PEOPLE FOR HIMALAYA CAMPAIGN, 2024

In solidarity for the wellbeing and sustenance of our Himalayan natural heritage - glaciers, rivers, alpine pastures, forests and lands and diverse inhabitants whose identity and survival depend on the Himalaya.

WASTE THAT IS NOT WASTE : The management of solid waste generated by the Ganesh Chaturthi festival 

Municipal corporations of each city can integrate this cyclic supply chain into their solid waste management plans ensuring that the true value of the material is recognised.

Alternative Developmental Paths in the Western Himalayas

At the core of all these is the motivation to ensure overall happiness of communities, which cannot be ensured solely through economic well-being.

Statement and Appeal on Ladakh’s Demands for Constitutional Safeguards

People of Ladakh demand Constitutional measures enabling them to protect their land, culture, environment and the economic interests.