Visual Medium for Social Change in Northeast India Leveraging the Power of Youth in Conservation Action and Social Change

Abstract

Green Hub Project was initiated in 2015 to engage and empower the youth and community in conservation and social change in the North East Region (NER), through an innovative model of using the visual medium; and open avenues for wider exposure and integration with livelihood options triggering ideas and action for a more socially equitable and ecologically sustainable future in the region. In a region where violence and political conflict has ruled for the past six decades, the Green Hub Project seeks to provide opportunities for them to move away from despair and violence, and renew their love and respect for nature to earn by protecting their natural resources, rather than destroying them. It is the first youth and community-based fellowship and video documentation center, for work related to wildlife, environment, gender, indigenous knowledge, and social change in the northeastern region of India. 20 youth from across the Northeast Region (NER) are selected every year for a 1-year fellowship to train in video documentation and storytelling, by eminent resource persons from across the country. Representing remote tribal areas, marginalized communities, as well as urban spaces, these Green Hub fellows are envisioned to be the influencers of change. Over the past 5 years, the network of Green Hub Fellows has grown to 88, and across all the 8 states of the region. Almost 90% of the Alumni are engaged in conservation and social change projects, through further grants, jobs with NGOs and media houses, as well as freelance projects. Two pilot sites for the ‘Forest Project’ have been selected which are being led by the Green Hub Alumni who belong to the community there, to develop as learning sites for community-based conservation. Moreover, there is an Alumni Collective that has been formed by the fellows to give strength to the network of these change-makers. Today, Green Hub is emerging as a unique space, bringing together the youth from different states and communities, replacing conflict with convergence, transcending borders and barriers, language and identity. Green Hub is envisioned to become a catalyst for conservation initiatives and sustainable livelihood on the ground, by the youth and community to help build a network of empowered individuals and groups to engage with new paradigms of conservation, which look at the creation of livelihoods through the protection of biodiversity.