community participation

In the Darjeeling-Sikkim region, a community photo archive is working to reclaim local histories that have long been misrepresented. But preserving people’s memories isn’t an easy process.

Celebrated by Chakhesang people in Porba, KhuKhu Nye is a day of joy and collective care. For girls and women, the recognition and respect it brings must outlast the festivities.

Apnalaya’s experience shows how complex outcomes such as building a community’s agency can be measured.

Social problems are shaped by complex power dynamics. Power mapping can help nonprofits understand these systems and design more context-sensitive solutions.

After three decades of work in Lakshadweep, a research organisation shares why it expanded into community engagement and why climate action requires patience and long-term funding.

Once known as cosmos town, Pfutsero in Nagaland saw the flower disappear as the town grew. A community-led reseeding effort brought it back, now hosting a festival to celebrate it.

A non-local nonprofit shares insights from their solar electrification programme, on why trust and local partnership matter more to work in Northeast India.

Growing pressures on land and ecological changes have made jhum cultivation difficult for Manipur’s farmers. Alternative practices offer a way to improve soil fertility and build sustainable livelihoods.

In June 2025, government officials reached Delhi’s Naraina Village for an ‘unprecedented’ public hearing. What unfolded revealed decades of neglect, but also new forms of resistance. 

Communities already carry deep knowledge of the commons through oral traditions, customary practices, and lived experience. The question is whether data systems are designed to recognise it.