Bengaluru, November 04, 2023 : Azim Premji University unveiled the second edition of its annual climate festival – Forests of Life – a celebration of forests, brought to life through an ensemble of art installations, photographs from forests captured by young interns, music, movies, artefacts, interactive workshops and more. The festival, being held at the Bengaluru campus of the University, will be open to the public until November 14, and entry will be free.
Close to thousand five hundred students and members of the public visited the inaugural day of the festival which began with a tribute to forests of Biligiri Rangaswamy Betta by Soliga tribal elders and presentation by students.
As part of the festival, the University selected a large cohort of student interns who travelled through 110 diverse forests across the country. Their narratives have woven together their experiences, challenges of human-animal conflicts and the deep association of indigenous communities with nature. They have also documented successful examples of wildlife relocation and detailed inspirational conservation stories.
The thirteen-day trilingual (English-Kannada-Hindi) festival offers an immersive and enriching experience.It will provide diverse perspectives from urban dwellers and indigenous communities and explore the idea of forests with school and college students from different parts of the country.
“The second edition of our annual climate festival brings to life a tapestry of stories from India’s diverse forests. This event underscores our deep relationship with forests and will shine a light on the urgent need to manage our forests better,” said Harini Nagendra, Director, Research Centre and Centre for Climate Change, Azim Premji University.
The programme will see various events each day across venues at the University. This will include several interactive workshops, panel discussions, movies, folk songs, rendition of folklore and a captivating photo exhibition.
In 2022, Azim Premji University launched its first climate festival – Rivers of Life – A journey through India’s Rivers’, as seen through the country’s myriad rivers, its cultural influences, role in livelihood, vibrant biodiversity, and the people behind its conservation. Over 10,000 school and college students, besides members of the public attended the event
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
