Natural Justice India office is hosting a two-day workshop
and exhibition called BLINC on the 27th and 28th of June, 2014. BLINC aims to
bring together NGOs, academics, activists, designers and individuals or groups
interested in the overarching theme of ‘Asserting community rights over the
environment’. Some of the objectives guiding this workshop and exhibition are:- To bring together interested individuals and groups to discuss their approaches when they encounter challenges on the field while working with communities;
- To experiment with new methods of conducting such workshops;
- To work with the participants in arriving at new ways or potential approaches to challenges they experience in the field whilst engaging in such work.
The dominant themes that have emerged from ongoing
discussions are:
- Participatory Intervention Processes
This theme in particular will focus on approaches taken by
organizations in designing inclusive models for decision-making around
legal/non-legal interventions with communities. Here participatory tools and
methodologies will be discussed to enable an exchange of ideas on this key
issue. The time factor, pre and post intervention will also be discussed to
gain a sense of thought process behind the intervention. The understanding of
inclusivity and participatory will be dependent on the nature of rights holders
on the resources but keeping in mind internal divisions that fragment
communities from cohesive action.
This fragmentation often acts as a precursor to exclusive
interventions. The forces of such fragmentation (caste, gender or entrance of
companies) need to be recognized and
discussion around methods used to overcome them should provide the background
for unpacking the notion of participatory intervention processes.
- Conflict Transformation or Resolution
This theme flows from the previous one on participatory
interventions. Given that one of the dominant challenges in the field is
divisions within communities, among communities and different stakeholders,
this thematic seeks to address this challenge by working with the participants
on exploring ways of conflict transformation and resolution. Conflict here refers
to frictions which maybe historically located or contemporary in nature among
the different interests of the communities or stakeholders in a given landscape.
(The motivation for exploring this theme is to understand
how conflict transformation can contribute to a cathartic process in the
application of law or other ways of intervention. This would mean using aspects
of law as a basis for methods of or activities for conflict transformation. To
also push the envelope further by suggesting that conflict resolution and
transformation should form an integral part of working with communities in
their struggle for asserting their rights over resources and to see how this
suggestion might be addressed by the different partners.)
- Reconciling Conservation and Development Desires
This theme zooms in on the constant tussle that every
organization encounters in their work with communities. The balancing act of
environmental conservation and desires for development that emerge from the
communities is a reality that contextualises such work. These two contrasting
interests seem to be at odds, but in this workshop we will aim to see how this
tension can be resolved to better understand the communities we work
with.
Activities
The planned activities are:
- Workshop: To conduct a day and a half long workshop on the thematic areas;
- Public Exhibition: To hold a public exhibition in M.G road on the overarching theme of ‘Asserting Community Rights over Resources’. Here we hope to showcase the work of the participants and their organizations for the public to engage with along with other exhibits from the Law, Environment and Design Laboratory at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology.
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