ledlaboratory viewbook issue 1 (2013)

LOGO DESIGN LED LAB

VIEW BOOK

2013. Law + Environment + Design Laboratory.

Partners of the Lab are: Natural Justice and the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

LED Lab Logo Design: Sonalee Mandke

Photo credits in this viewbook: Naomi Shah (Sariska Project) Deepta Sateesh (all other photographs)

The ROOTS Project and View Book were made possible by the Shuttleworth Foundation.

Contents

Who We Are 01

How We Work 03

The ROOTS Project 05

Upcoming Projects 19

Events 21

Engage with Us 25

diss

emin

ation

curriculum

projects

empower

men

t

impact lo

cal +

glo

bal c

olla

boratio

ns

research

DESIGN+

LAW

EDUCATIONPOLICY

IMPACT

CON

FLIC

TRE

SOLU

TIO

N

‘POPULARIZING’LAW

CULT

URE

+

DEV

ELO

PMEN

T

RESILIENCE

THINKING

Law + Environment + Design Laboratory View Book | 1

Vision

We envision the lab:

• To be a space that pushes boundaries across issues and disciplines, using creative thinking.

• To facilitate creative engagement with environmental law through innovative problem-solving and design methodology.

• To challenge the existing legal, environmental, social and cultural frameworks through interdisciplinary thinking and collaborative work that can critically analyze and visualize the issues in their complexities.

• To create an approach that enables various disciplines to unpack the notion of justice and create new pathways to empower indigenous and local communities towards a more adaptive and resilient society and ecology, establishing cultural integrity and equity.

Who We are

Strategy

To create a space for learning to understand the environment, analyse issues surrounding it, represent them and explore solutions towards a sustainable future.

To be a place where research and practice feed each other through experimentation that result in the creation of new tools and methods.

To provide a platform to enable people from diverse backgrounds and interests, equipping them with ways of thinking and acting with sensitivity and creativity.

Designing law: in search of...

East Coker from ‘Four Quartets’

“...At best, only a limited value

In the knowledge derived from experience.

The knowledge imposes a pattern, and falsifies,

For the pattern is new in every moment

And every moment is a new and shocking

Valuation of all we have seen.

...The only wisdom we can hope to acquire

Is the wisdom of humility; humility is endless.”

- T.S. Eliot.


Values that guide our approach, methodology and pedagogy

• Interdisciplinary thinking

• Openness & reflection

• Embracing complexity

• Empathy & mindfulness

• Experience-based learning

• Group learning

• Democracy & consensus building

hoW We Work

4 | Law + Environment + Design Laboratory

“The sky above is their shelter and

the earth with its plants and the

surroundings is their home. I hope and

wish it always is like that. They are the

ones who are protecting nature and

coexisting with it, instead of trying to

destroy.”

- Bidisha Das


the ‘roots’ ProJeCt

How can design thinking benefit a Maldhari, a camel herding nomad of Kutch, Gujarat? Do the Gujjars in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan have a right to reclaim their age-old access and rights over the forests in the Arravallis? How can you as a designer and creative communicator enable these communities to get ecological justice? Students at the LED Lab undertook 2 projects that did precisely this. They revolve around the larger ideas of sustainability, climate change adaptation and human rights in geographical zones of conflict between man and the environment.

These communities are being marginalized through policies of exclusionary conservation and rapid industrialisation that has affected their cultural, social, economic and environmental relationships and practices. They have been facing trouble from the Forest Department for access to resources and land, and the laws did not permit those rights, but with the revised Forest Rights Act 2006, these communities can claim for their forest rights to access, share and nurture resources and the land.


“I realized awareness is a very small part of

the solution. Yes, it is important for the local

communities to know their rights, it is important for

them to know when they are being exploited by the

Forest Department, when they need to take a stand.”

- Naomi Shah


‘Van adhikar’

Gujjars, Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan

The Gujjars in Rajasthan are in the process of claiming these rights, through Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP), an interface/enabling document that help them define and communicate their cultural values intrinsically linked to their environment, the tangible and intangible, traditional knowledge and practices, and the socio-ecological relationships that create and maintain them. The Gujjars need to map their cultural landscapes and ecosystem values, including preservation of their sacred groves, or devbannis.


Agenda: Community

Driven Conservation

SARISKA TIGER RESERVE

ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

A “critical tiger habitat”

andhow it affects the

Forest Rights Act (2006)

FOREST DEPARTMENT

KRAPAVIS

FOREST DWELLINGCOMMUNITY

TEMPLEAUTHORITY

Authority and power;

fear among locals

Preserving forest by drawing

boundaries and preventing

human intervention

Wooing locals into giving up

land; fake promise of changing

land category for use

INDUSTRY

Interest

Influence

Risks

Livestock Grazing

Individual Benefit

Weak and unable

to exercise rights

Relocation from the Reserve

NANAK RAM GUJJAR

GUJJARS MEENAS

HARI RAM GUJJAR

Alternate Identity

NGO worker

Forest guard

BCP. Identifying

Community Rights

Opportunity toinfluence legal action and conflict resolution

Dealing with

aspects purely

within the legal

arena

NATURAL

JUSTICE

Commercialisation

in Core Areas

Religion: a priority

over ecology

Influence in political

and social scenario

Politics of

securing votes

Creating a micro-

economy out of

devotion and

staunch belief

GRAM SABHA

Authority of the Forest Rights Committee

Securing community rights

Misrepresentation of community needs

Resources for mining

Government support

Harming geography,

ecology and land use

patterns

Economic power

Highlighting one issue

over the many others

that are existing

Promoting the concept

of Devbannis

Co-existence

Giving locals a sense of empowerment

Primary Stake-Holders

Secondary Stake

Holders

STAKEHOLDER MAP: To show the stakeholders involved in the situation, with respect to their interests and influences in the system.


Design outcomes

The final design intervention was a toolkit that a paralegal can use in the field to help build awareness of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and facilitate community decision-making. The toolkit consists of a flowchart that describes the process of claiming

Recieve, acknowledge and retain claims in specified form and provide evidence

Prepare record of claims andevidence required to claim rights

Prepare list of claimants of Forest Rights

verify claims

Present to Gram Sabha, nature and extent of rights to claim

prepare claims on community forest rights

10-15members

May levy charges by collection of fees from people who access or collect any biological resource for commercial practices

6members

Responsibility of ensuring no developmental activities and therefore destruction of habitat

Consider resettlementpackage and givewritten consentfor relocation

Call for claims and authorize the FRC to make record of these claims within 3 months of filing the claims and record evidence.

Consider verification process made by FRC regarding claims and pass appropriate resoultions on these claims after giving an oppurtunity to claimants before passing to the Sub-Divisional level commitee

Collect necessary information,documents and records from government authorities

Protection and conservation of habitat and biodiversity from destructive practices

Documentation of biodiversity, ‘cultivar’, ‘folk variety’ and ‘landrace’

RIGHT OFRELOCATED

COMMUNITIES2.5 LAKHS

+quarterhectare

onebighaland

Rs. 2.5 Lakhs in cash and six bighas of land

10 LAKHS

NO LANDAND

Rs. 10 Lakhs in cashand no allotted land.

OR

ACCESSRIGHTS

Grazing (Settled and Transhumant)

Traditional SeasonalResource Access

Collect, Use and Dispose Non-Timber

Forest Produce

Access To Fish And Other Products Of Water Bodies

Nistaar Taxes for commercial use and sale of Minor Forest

Produce

Right to traditional knowledge and Intellectual

Property Rights over forest resources

Rights to access biodiversity and

manage and protect it using collective

community discretion.

BIODIVERSITYCONSERVATION

Conservation Of Local Water Sources

Ensuring protection of catchment areas

Managing indigeneous treesby traditonal practices

traditional customary and ethno-veterinary practices

TENURIAL RIGHTS

Community Tenures of Habitat and Habitation

Conversion Of Pattas or leases, or grants issued by

local authority or State Governement To Forest Titles

p33a

FOREST

TITLES

CLAIMS

GRAMSABHA

FORESTRIGHTSCOMMITTEE

BIODIVERSITYMANAGEMENTCOMMITTEE

7-17members

17%

33%

50%

NISTAAR

ORAL HISTORY

REC

RECORD OF RIGHTS

p33a

EVIDENCE

PATTAS

VILLAGE MAP RESOURCE MAP

FOREST MAP LAND USE MAP

Ensuring livelihood security post-relocation

RIGHT TO CULTURAL

HERITAGEMaintenance and conservation

MAPS

conservation of old, heritage structures and regulation over commercial access

COMMUNITYFOREST RIGHTS

constituting thecommittes

WOMEN

SCHEDULED TRIBES

UNFOLDING THE LAW

PP

P

P P

PP

rights; an infograph describing the rights, evidences to claim them and the responsibilities of community once the rights are claimed; placards; and a puppet theatre with scripts based on scenarios the Gujjars may face.


“Being close to these people for some days also

brings to question many things that are rooted in

our culture. Our idea of happiness for example, our

relationship with money, our tendency to complain.”

- Varda Schneider


‘Legally Bound’

Camel Maldharis, Chchari Dhand & Mohadi, Kutch, Gujarat

The Camel Maldharis in Kutch are traditionally pastoralist camel breeders, and are also in the process of creating their BCP to claim their rights to the grazing ‘commonlands’. The Maldharis breed 2 types of camels, the Kutchi camels, and the Kharai camels that survive on mangroves along the coastline. The mangroves are also threatened, by industrial development, creating a highly complex web of human-environment, development-conservation and social-economic interdependencies.


Design outcomes

The final design interventions were a board game that can help the Maldharis to understand the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and an experimental documentary film, called Graze, to build awareness in government bodies about the conflict in the region.


Initial sketches on the Hero’s Project

by Abhishek Choudhury.


UPCoMInG ProJeCts

The “Hero’s” Project

This is a project based on the universal myth of ‘the hero’s journey’ by Joseph Campbell; it will look to work with the Khoisan community in South Africa to collect the stories of the community leaders, their myths and oral history. The challenge is to build inspiring narratives of these ‘heroes’, in forms that appeal to and communicate to the community’s youth.

The “Voices” Project

This is a participatory video project to document the culture, oral history and legal challenges of the Paudi Bhuyan community, one of many primitive tribes in Sundergarh District of Orissa who inhabit forest areas. The final documentary film may be used by the community as legal evidence under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Biodiversity Projects

These are 2 design projects to assist the National Biodiversity Authority, India, to creatively communicate the importance of biodiversity to urban India, through various story-telling forms.


eVents

Global Environment Summer Academy Workshop

7 December 2012

A half-day workshop on the importance of marrying law with design where participants explored the nature of this interdisciplinary approach and its potentials. The workshop was one of many design-related sessions held during the Grad Show 2012 at the Srishti School. The participants included Gary Martin (Director, Global Diversity Foundation), Marie Wilke, Kabir Bavikatte (Director, Natural Justice), Rustam Vania (Dean, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology), Deepta Sateesh (Director, LED Lab) and Arpitha Kodiveri (Director, LED Lab).

‘Exposing the Invisible’ - 2nd ARI-BCP Workshop

18-20 February 2013

A 3-day workshop was hosted by the LED Lab and Natural Justice, at Srishti School. The workshop examined the challenges of implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the application of Biocultural Community Protocols in India and explored other instruments to facilitate assertion of rights over resources by indigenous and local communities. The workshop saw participation from various NGOs and community-based organizations across South Asia working in this area accompanied with a half-day mini-workshop on how design thinking can influence the sphere of law and advocacy, with students help in facilitation.


Workshop with Bhoomi College

22 February 2013

A workshop on the risks and advantages of approaching the courts in environmental issues. Attending the session were students of the LED Lab and Bhoomi College, who are pursuing a year-long course on sustainability studies.


Negotiating Hidden Terrains

26 April 2013

This 1-day symposium was a culmination of a long semester working on the ROOTS Project - the biggest challenge being visualizing the law. Students presented and exhibited the final design interventions, including four documentary film screenings on climate change, by Srishti Films students.

eVents


The speakers at the symposium were:

Kabir Bavikatte, Natural Justice: On the need for new ways of seeing and understanding the law.

Rustam Vania, Srishti School: On the opportunity of using design thinking and processes to meet this challenge.

Ravi Chellam, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust: A reflection on the recent judgements on translocation of the Lions of Gir, Kutch, and the challenges.

Maya Ganesh, Tactical Technology Collective: On the potentials of technologies and mapping as new ways of seeing and communicating, for advocacy. Arpitha Kodiveri, Natural Justice: On the challenges of the concept of “evidence” in law, and the opportunities and dangers in relation to cultural evolution.

Danish Sheikh, Alternative Law Forum: On interdisciplinary ways of looking at law and popular culture, and the origins of interdisciplinary thinking.

Deepta Sateesh, Srishti School: On interdisciplinary thinking and pedagogy to address complex environmental issues, and the story, successes and failures of the ROOTS Project.


enGaGe WIth Us

We engage in a variety of activities which range from collaborative projects, consultancies, research, and designing curriculum and workshops.

If you would like to collaborate with us please contact us at [email protected].

We hope to hear from you!Deepta & Arpitha.


Directors

Deepta SateeshSrishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Arpitha KodiveriNatural Justice

Advisors

John C. KeeneUniversity of Pennsylvania

Geetha NarayananSrishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Kabir BavikatteNatural Justice

Students

Kutch Team: Ananya Singh, Koyal Chengappa, Mariette Breton, Varda Schneider, Shambhavi Singh, Bidisha Das

Team Sariska: Meghna Jaswal, Joshua Iype, Sanika Sahasrabuddhe, Naomi Shah

oUr CUrrent eCosysteM

Friends of the lab

Rustam Vania, Abhiyan Humane, Arnab BasuSrishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Sanjay BarnelaSrishti Films & Moving Images

Nitin RaiAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment

Ravi ChellamMadras Crocodile Bank Trust

Girish PrabhuSrishti Labs & Pepper Slate

Ashish KothariKalpavriksh

Jyoti HosagraharSustainable Urbanism International

Harry JonasNatural Justice

Sahjeevan (NGO), Kutch, Gujurat

Krapavis (NGO), Alwar, Rajasthan

Nupur Panemangalor, Illustrator & Graphic Designer

“I think I can begin to deconstruct each clause of a law and understand its implications. What needs to be thought about is the broader application of the law for empowerment and more access.”

- Sanika Sahasrabuddhe

Web: http://srishti.ac.in/ledlab/Facebook: www.facebook.com/LEDLaboratoryEmail: [email protected] Tel: +91.80.4044.7000Address: P.O. Box No. 6430, Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore - 560 106

ledlaboratory viewbook issue 1 (2013)

Documents

design methodology

environmental law

technologyled lab logo

creative thinking

logo design led labview

new pathways

photographsthe roots

roots projecthow