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illustration, have the potential to begin this dialogue. As a first step towards .... regions. This course was designed
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Contents

April, 2014. Law + Environment + Design Laboratory. The LEDLaboratory is autonomous built on a collaboration between: Natural Justice & Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology LEDLaboratory Logo Design: Sonalee Mandke

Who We Are..................................................5.

Photo credits in this viewbook: Aditya Bhardwaj Koyal Chengappa Bidisha Das Gloria Lauterbach Revati Pandya Deepta Sateesh

How We Work...............................................7 Design in Action - the ROOTS Project.............9 Communicating Biodiversity Project.............11 The Voices Project........................................21 The Heroes Project.......................................25 In the Studio................................................29 Events..........................................................33 Media..........................................................39

The field Testing for The Roots Project was supported by Andrea Von Braun Stiftung.

The Heroes Project was supported by the Shuttleworth Foundation.

The Voices Project was supported by the INLAKS Shivdsani Foundation.

The Comunicating Biodiversity Project was supported by the National Biodiversity Authority of India with the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the United Nation’s Development Program - Global Environment Facility.

Engage with Us............................................41

Who we are ION

T CA

U ED

curriculum

We are an eclectic group of lawyers and planners, artists and designers, illustrators and performers, working together to catalyze change through creative practices and actionoriented research.

PO IM LIC PA Y CT

Our goals are: •

To create a space for learning to understand the environment, analyze 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.

The LEDLaboratory is:

CULTURE + DEVELOPMENT

g l o b a l c o ll

A place that pushes boundaries across issues and disciplines, using creative thinking.



A platform to facilitate creative engagement with environmental law through innovative problem-solving and design methodology.

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A group that challenges 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.



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



An interdisciplinary team to democratize knowledge through ‘design as research’.

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How we work We are constantly engaging in collaborative work, and endeavor to create an interdisciplinary environment where everyone’s strengths are valued, and there is opportunity to grow and be heard. Values that guide the way we work are:

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Interdisciplinary thinking



Openness & honesty



Embracing complexity



Empathy & mindfulness



Experience-based learning



Group learning



Consensus building

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Design in Action The Claim Game (developed in the ROOTS Project) was field tested in November 2013 in Kutch, with Fakirani Jats in Dhrangavandh in Lakhpat town. The group consisted of four women and two men. The board game was also shown to groups of three to five in Chhari Dhand Conservation Reserve, Sargu village in Banni (with members from the Node community) and at the Banni Pashumela. Individuals in Lakhpat and Chhari Dhand Conservation Reserve were unaware of the Forest Rights Act, which affected their understanding of the game. The visuals provoked longer discussions before giving feedback like those representing a Rabari had Jat colours in its attire and specific aspects of the camels.

The rules of the game were difficult for them to understand, especially because they were unaware of the FRA. Individuals who were aware of the FRA in the Banni gave more feedback about the rules and content of the game. The game needs prior awareness of the FRA and connections with industries in the form of livelihood. The visuals, though difficult to comprehend for some, were enough to pique curiosity. Discussions gave light to important points of the game; in that it is very case specific which may leave less space for the game to scale up. Prior knowledge about the FRA and association with industries is needed. The hope is that the team will revisit the game design and its visuals, to make it easier to access, play and learn.

“While for most respondents the concept of a board game was novel, the game has a potential for communicating the FRA given the prerequisites” - Arpitha Kodiveri

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COMMUNICATING BIODIVERSITY PROJECT Biodiversity is a broad area that impacts the political, economic and cultural life of the public. This impact and importance is often lost through a myriad of inaccessible policy documents, technical language and inadequate media attention. The problem is identified as one that lacks of effective and creative communication of biodiversity in a form accessible to a wider public. This project hopes to generate sensitivity to the issues that surround this topic by providing numerous avenues for engagement. Different media of communication, from animation to

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illustration, have the potential to begin this dialogue. As a first step towards effective and creative communication of the importance of biological diversity, and how we as humans are intrinsically a part of this web, the lab initiated two design projects with the support of the National Biodiversity Authority of India: a storybook targeted at teenagers and up, and an animation series for pre-school children.

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MONKEY’S JOURNEY

r, fascination, follows trail.

LANDFILL

STORIES IN THE LANDSCAPE

imagines the sticker tree, wonders how many trees might be in the big city.

TREE STUMPS

pigeon’s story, deforestation,

monkey feels strong and determined, attributes to sticker, “Everyone can use more stickers”

reaches the city, the city holds a promise to realize your dreams. tires, r to rest,

notices fallow after a monoculture.

SUPERMARKET

FIELDS

plough’s story, monoculture failure. shopping bag’s story changing market dynamics

The Land Where The Sticker Tree Grows The Land Where The Sticker Tree Grows is a storybook that offers an insight into urban and periurban environments to capture the conflict between biodiversity and modernization. Designed for ages 12 and above, this storybook addresses various themes such as invasive monocultures, habitat loss, loss of cultural diversity and ecological refugees in the city.

These stories are told from the perspectives of non-human narrators: a monkey, a pigeon, a shopping bag, a plough and a trunk. The design process was guided by Daniel Pink’s Six essential senses, namely Design, Story, Symphony, Play, Empathy and Meaning.

THE BIG CITY

trunk’s story, loss of local varities, state of urban poor

The storymap that plots the monkey’s journey through the landscape, revealing other stories and characters.

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Trees? Who needs them anymore? Since my ancestral tree was felled, my flock has lost the art of tree-nesting. And that is perfectly alright, as my great aunt said, we must move ahead with the times. Which is why it was nice of the humans to build us a sturdy new building, even though we were given no prior notice. The day the men arrived with their chain saws, all the tree dwellers raised an alarm. We looked on as the mice, the millipedes, the sparrows and the geckos scurried away. Before the men could touch the trunk my mother, who was expecting me, fled to a tall post nearby. And there she raised me to be a survivor. My great aunt, ever the optimist, perished with the tree but she’d have been proud to see the new high-rise apartments that stand in its place. For two years we hung around watching them construct one floor after another. Until it was so high it even made the pigeons dizzy. We toiled with the humans, building nests in small openings and windows. But something was amiss; it was as though the humans wanted to move in with us. The first summer, there were bird feeders sticking out of the flats. But then the windows were sealed for the sake of the air conditioners and suitcases and cartons took over the lofts. And before long, we were no longer welcome to our own home. We were the outlaws of the high-rise now. The rats of the skies. Non Resident Avians.

Illustrations and text from the storybook.

Stories Of The Big City Park Stories of The Big City Park is an animation series that encourages pre-school children in cities to explore the natural world within urban environments. It introduces the concept of ‘backyard biodiversity’ that one needn’t travel to rainforests and remote landscapes to appreciate biodiversity. Instead it draws attention to creatures in our backyard that have small presence but great significance, namely ants, bees and earthworms.

The animation series depicts the important role that these creatures play in their individual ecosystems and, in the larger picture, uses the life cycle of plants to illustrate how they affect each other’s ecosystem and contribute to the circle of life.

Pollination

Flowers

Fertilization

Bees

Plant

Seeds Earthworms

Germination

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Ants

Dispersal

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THE VOICES PROJECT The Voices Project was intended to be a participatory video project to document the culture, oral history and legal challenges of the Paudi Bhuyan community in forests of Sundergarh District of Orissa. After one a month of engaging with the community, was a pivotal point in the project to critique the ethics and role of an ‘outsider’ and camera, leading to a change in the outcome of Phase I of the project.

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The final form was an audio-visual installation to ‘experience’ the interdependencies and multiplicity of the place. From biodiversity and conservation, mining and infrastructure, to political volatility and community practices, cloud forests of Khandadhar hold the stories of the mountain, children, water, minerals, conflicts over rights and resources. Phase II will compile and disseminate documentation of the community and their environment.

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“The ethics of using the camera in the field was restored in me. When to use the camera and when not to was critical because it’s an issue of being sensitive to the moment and the surroundings.” - Bidisha Das 22 | Law + Environment + Design Laboratory



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THE HEROES PROJECT The Heroes Project, inspired by the hero’s journey (Campbell), is a collaboration between Natural Justice and the lab. It is an initiative in the move towards social reform in South Africa, to enable the KhoiSan youth make informed choices. For the design process, traditional forms of storytelling were explored to find a voice for the project. Using animal symbology borrowed from Khoi San rock paintings, and Carl Jung’s archetypes of the King, Lover, Wizard and Warrior, a thorough character design process was followed and translated into shadow puppets to facilitate storytelling.

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The Cape Flats, where most KhoiSan reside today in the midst of gangsterism, drug abuse and poverty, are also home to heroes from the community who have made significant contributions for positive change. A graphic narrative to reintroduce myths and community heroes was identified as the form that the youth can relate to. To collect stories from the community, the Heroes Workshop was held at Cape Town with adolescents from the Cape Flats. The group used forum theatre techniques and improvised shadow theatre as media to dialogue about their current living situation, problems and aspirations.

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“The perception of a hero is someone who stands up for his rights.” - Participant at the Heroes Workshop

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IN THE STUDIO Environ’mental’ism - Humanities Course July-October 2013

“I have found interest in observing how green spaces exist in cities and blend with

“Environ’mental’ism” was an introduction to ‘reading’ our environment, and environmental issues around us, from small urban streets to large ecologically threatened regions. This course was designed to build sensitivity to understand diverse environments, and to see and connect patterns that emerge through the power of observation and imagination guided by readings and talks by academics and professionals.

urbanisation and how urbanisation requires nature to evolve.” - Sanika Sahasrabuddhe

The concepts explored included bioregionalism, politics of place, environmental justice, conservation, livelihoods, urbanism, sustainability, biodiversity, ethics, culture, and development/progress. Students explored and critiqued current anthropocentric norms, policies and ways of understanding and engaging with the environment.

The following readings formed the discourse and shaped dialogue in this seminar course: Thoreau, Henry D. Walking – An Essay. Atlantic Monthly, June 1862. Mathur, Anuradha & da Cunha, Dilip. Deccan Traverses – The Making of Bangalore’s Terrain. Rupa, 2006. Whyte, W.H. City – Rediscovering the Center. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990. Chapter 6: The Sensory Street, pp 79-102. Abromson, Allen and Theodossopoulous, Dimitrios. Land, Law and Environment. Pluto Press, 2000. Chapter 1: Mythical Land, Legal Boundaries: Wondering about landscape and other tracts, pp 1-30. Valparaiso – the movie, Argos Films and Universidad de Chile, 1965.

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IN THE STUDIO Reimaging/ Reimagining The Western Ghats January-April 2014 The project proposes a new model of enquiry, investigation and engagement that may be applied to inform (design) interventions that do not propagate ‘problems’, but are synchronous with the environment and build resilience. In order to maintain an understanding of the complexities of processes, forms, functions and relationships in the environment, it intends to bring an interdisciplinary approach to explore new ways of situating, visualizing, and engaging in complex environments to expose the nature of places and construct new images and imaginations.

The site of investigation is the Western Ghats: the focus of many kinds of research and activism, development and conservation. The project brings together the humanities and social sciences, planning and design, law and policy, landscape and the natural sciences. To negotiate this landscape, an interdisciplinary core team has been brought together including architect/planner Dilip da Cunha, architect/landscape architect Anuradha Mathur, social scientist Vivek Dhareshwar, environmental lawyer Arpitha Kodiveri and architect/planner Deepta Sateesh. The team has initiated an exploration in the studio and field. The final works of this pilot project will be exhibited, 2-4 May 2014, at Sunset Point, Agumbe - a tourist destination run by the Forest Department.

Students explore the idea of DATUM through a “field of laterite” in the Western Ghats.

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EVENTS 5th Sustainable Summer School, Nikolaus Monastery, Düsseldorf, Germany 25 August-1 September, 2013 Attending the 5th SSS were Ananya Singh and Sanika Sahasrabuddhe, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, accompanied by Hamna Tahir from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.

The 5th Sustainable Summer School, held at Nikolaus Monastery, near Düsseldorf, focussed on the Culture of Sustainability. All 3 students were funded by Heinrich Böll Stiftung, New Delhi.

Talk: “Imag(in)ing Environments”, Dilip da Cunha, University of Pennsylvania 24 July 2013

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Exhibition: The Srishti Collective 2013

The Heroes Adventure Workshop

12-16 December 2013

12 December 2013

The Srishti Collective 2013 was a curated exhibition of diploma student projects at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, that included the Communicating Biodiversity, Voices and the Heroes projects. The 5-day celebration had visitors from schools and colleges, Bangalore City and the Yelahanka neighborhood, who attended the exhibition, talks and performances and participated in art and design workshops.

On Opening Day of the Srishti Collective 2013, the Heroes Adventure Workshop had its participants embark on an adventure trail to explore various stages of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s Journey.



About 25-30 high-school students from various schools participated in this adventure through exhibits and campuses.

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The Storytelling for Biodiversity Workshop

LEDLaboratory 1st Anniversary/ Networking Dinner

13 December 2013

15 December 2013

The Storytelling For Biodiveristy Workshop invited visitors to the Srishti Collective to express their relationships with biodiversity in cities by creating their own storybooks. This was followed by a reading session where participants took turns to share their stories and bring their characters to life.

The LEDLaboratory turned 1 year old on 1 November 2013. To celebrate the work and team, as well as the completion of 5 projects, the lab hosted a dinner attended by designers, artists, architects, engineers, and business and finance professionals, to share our work, and expand the lab’s ecosystem and networks.

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Screening: “Voices” 12 January 2014

Book Launch: “The Land Where the Sticker Tree Grows” 13 January 2014

The video installation “Voices” was exhibited at the JD Centre of Art for the Imaging The Arts 8th National Film Festival on Art and Artists. The Festival showcased the work of eminent artists and filmmakers such as Nandita Das, Gautam Ghose, Ashok Vajpeyi and Seema Kohli with a focus on folk and tribal art and culture.



The storybook The Land Where The Sticker Tree Grows was launched at the India International Centre in Delhi, in the presence of Rajeev Sethi, Dr. T Ramasami, Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati and Dr. R.R. Hanchinal, among other eminent leaders of the Government of India. Also present in the audience were educators and school students who became the first recipients of the publication.

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MEDIA Animation Series Launch: “Stories of the Big City Park”

In the News 26 January 2014

20 January 2014 The launch of the DVD of Stories of the Big City Park, a compilation of the three animations, was held on the 20th of January, 2014, a day marking the 10th Anniversary of the National Biodiversity Authority.

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The animation The Long Wriggly Earthworm was screened in the presence of Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, the chairmen of various State Biodiversity Boards and other dignitaries. Mr. Sam Pitroda, Planning Commission of India, participated in the event through video Skype.

On Republic Day 2014, The Hindu covered the launch of the storybook The Land Where The Sticker Tree Grows and the animation series Stories Of The Big City Park.The article included interviews with Deepta Sateesh, Co-Director, LEDLaboratory, and Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority, Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati.



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ENGAGE WITH US We engage in a variety of activities which include design in action projects, studio work, research and extending our practices. If you would like to explore collaborating with us please contact us at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you! Deepta & Arpitha.

“Unlocked Futures - Open Innovation”, Construkt Festival Panel, 22 March 2014. Deepta Sateesh shares what it takes to enable open innovation by collaborating in interdisciplinary teams, and using creative processes. Also on the panel were Jyotsna Pattabiraman (Knowlarity), Anjana Vivek (VentureBean) and Poonam bir Kasturi (Daily Dump), facilitated by Will Tynan (Refinery Leadership Partners).

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our Current ecosystem Directors

Project Collaborators

Deepta Sateesh Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Dilip da Cunha, PennDesign Anuradha Mathur, PennDesign Vivek Dhareshwar, BHSI Kabir Bavikatte, Natural Justice Lesle Jansen, Natural Justice

Arpitha Kodiveri Natural Justice

Team Malvika Tewari Abhishek Choudhury Bidisha Das Meghana Murali

Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, Karnataka National Biodiversity Authority, India Jeevan Vikas (NGO), Odisha Sahjeevan (NGO), Kutch, Gujurat

Friends of the lab

Advisors

Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh

John C. Keene, University of Pennsylvania

Romulus Whitaker & Gowri Mallapur, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust

Geetha Narayanan, Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology Kabir Bavikatte, Natural Justice

Students Aditya Bharadwaj, Ananya Singh, Koyal Chengappa, Loveena Chopra, Raheel Malkan, Rohit Dasgupta, Roshan Shakeel, Ruchir Gupta, Sanika Sahasrabuddhe, Shambhavi Singh, Shams Al Shahid, Shreya Bhatia, Shreya Dugar, Sudeep Vashistha 42 | Law + Environment + Design Laboratory

Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology: Llloyd Roberts Pooja Pottenkulam Swati Dandekar Priya Iyer Manjusha Nair Bani Singh Deepak Srinivasan Shai Heredia, Experimental Film-maker Sanjay Barnela, Srishti Films & Moving Images

“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



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