Him Jo Goonje

Secure Himalaya Project by United Nations Development Programme

︎ Duration: January - May 2019 

 
The Trans Himalayan region paints a stunning canvas of myriad human cultures, linguistic diversity, several indigenous communities, and a multitude of species of flora and fauna. The daunting roads that lead to this austere beauty along with six months of absolute snowfall are some factors for relative seclusion and remoteness that have made them the bastions of globally significant indigenous knowledge and cultural heterogeneity. UNDP and Moef’s joint venture “Secure Himalaya” postulates securing livelihoods, conservation, and sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems while enhancing the conservation of biodiversity, land, and forest resources along with the lives and livelihoods of the local communities.

“Him jo Goonje,” proposes the initiation of community radio stations at the four project sites are Pangi, Lahaul, Spiti, and Kinnaur. The mandate of the project is to invoke the new age practices of Citizen Journalism and Citizen Science amongst the local communities and also encourage them to actively participate in cultural conservation, archival, and documentation of traditional knowledge. It aims at promoting the niche idea of conservation through participatory policies and actions.

Amalgamating both the traditional radio and the new media, the proposed system gives an opportunity to the locals to assert cultural identity and self-expression in another realm, that is the digital space. The proposed system targets the local communities taking the onus of the content creation and disseminating content and stories through diverse media channels.

                         

Tags:
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Design Research
Participatory Design
Interaction Design
New Media

Awards:
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Best Thesis Award, 2019
by Srishti Institute of Art,
Design and Technology
                                                  Collaborators:
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UNDP
All India Radio, Shimla
Vikrant Mishra  
                                  Documentation︎︎︎              

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FIELD INQUIRY

The field trip to Kinnaur, the secondary site of the Secure Himalaya Project, was an extensive immersion in the dynamic landscape. Walking is an evocative medium to witness and live reality. It also helps in experiencing the landscape in new and more nuanced ways.

The inquiry in the field was conducted by being completely immersed in the process of walking and trekking. A highly formal process led to several discoveries, encounters, excavating stories and conceptualisations. Oral traditions revolve around the locals and represent their consciousness and the landscape.

A combination of digital photography, sketches, journal entries, and voice recordings was used to document the landscape. It was imperative to understand how landscapes are meaningful and involved in choreographing identities and gathering cultural and traditional knowledge.