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Social-Ecological Transformation | 

Action Schools on Urban Governance and Himalayan Futures

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ActionAid Karnataka Projects (AKP), in collaboration with RLS South Asia, is organising two thematic action schools in 2026 to examine the structural conditions shaping governance, citizenship and ecological sustainability in India.

The Urban Action School will focus on the deepening crisis of urban local governance in India. Despite constitutional provisions for democratic decentralisation, elected municipal bodies have been increasingly sidelined by parastatal agencies, Special Purpose Vehicles and mission-mode institutions. This has widened the distance between citizens and decision-making, particularly for informal workers, women, migrants and Dalit and minority communities, whose access to basic services and civic institutions remains constrained. The school will bring together researchers, practitioners, civil society representatives and policymakers to examine how participatory governance can be strengthened and how urban residents can reclaim meaningful political agency.

The Himalayan Action School will address the intersecting ecological and social crises facing the Himalayan region. Climate change, unplanned infrastructure, resource extraction and the privatisation of commons have placed severe pressure on mountain communities whose livelihoods depend on fragile ecosystems. The school will examine questions of land, water, displacement and governance across the Himalayan belt.

About AKP

ActionAid Karnataka Projects (AKP) is a Bengaluru-based organisation registered in 1988, working across India on issues of urban and rural poverty, women's empowerment, livelihood support, climate adaptation and the rights of marginalised communities. AKP has direct engagement with communities in Indian cities as well as in Himalayan states including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kashmir and the North East, and has conducted action research on the impact of climate change on construction workers, brick kiln workers, pastoralists and inland fisherfolk.

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