“The health of our planet – is for everyone”
As the Hyderabad Literature Festival returns to Sattva Knowledge City for its third consecutive year, a specially curated stream promises to be among its most urgent offerings. “Climate Conversations,” presented by EkoGalaxy at Orwell 3, brings together conservationists, architects, policy experts, scientists, and storytellers across eight compelling sessions over three days to grapple with the biodiversity crisis and our collective future on a warming planet.
EkoGalaxy, a platform partnering with schools across India and Europe and representing the UNESCO Greening Education Partnership, has assembled a program that refuses easy answers. Founded by Shreyas Sridharan and Dr. Urvi Desai, the organization’s mission—to build nature-rich futures for ourselves and the biodiversity we share the planet with—pulses through every session on the schedule.
Saturday, January 24: From Mountains to Homes
The stream opens with “Beyond the Nilgiris: Uncovering the Hidden Stories” (11:00-11:50 AM), a workshop led by Priyadarshini Panchapakesan that invites participants into the Palani Hills through images, sounds, and narrative. Drawing from ongoing research and children’s storytelling, this immersive session demonstrates how folklore and imagination can deepen conservation awareness, beginning with the recognition that meaningful conservation starts with personal connection to place.
At noon, “Futures of Biodiversity: Changing World, Changing Questions” shifts to panel discussion format, bringing together Asad Rahmani, Ravi Chellam, and Rushikesh Chavan with moderator Anu Pande, in collaboration with The Habitats Trust. The session confronts an uncomfortable truth: biodiversity underpins planetary health and human wellbeing, yet the crisis deepens as careless human activities push species toward extinction and collapse natural ecosystems. The panel explores not just the complex arcs of resource overuse, habitat loss, and unsustainable consumption, but also our missing connections with the natural world—the stillness, the pause, the ability to observe with curiosity and wonder without claiming it as our own.
The afternoon takes flight with “A Better World with Bats” (3:00-3:50 PM), where Rohit Chakravarty, in partnership with the Nature Conservation Foundation, delivers a talk structured in three chapters: fascinating bat trivia, an introduction to India’s iconic bat species, and the threats these misunderstood creatures face and why ordinary citizens must care about their conservation. It’s precisely the kind of session that transforms fear into fascination.
Saturday concludes with the hands-on “Design My Climate Home” workshop (4:00-4:50 PM), led by Satwika Taduri. As rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns become the new normal, participants step into the shoes of a climate architect to design climate-responsive homes. This informative and enjoyable workshop explores practical solutions for creating climate-resilient spaces, demonstrating that sustainability extends beyond grand policy into the materials and methods of everyday shelter.
Sunday, January 25: Policy, Adventure, and Ethics
Sunday morning launches with “Road to Resilience: Climate Policy, Communities & Capital” (11:00-11:50 AM), a panel discussion featuring Anjal Prakash, Hisham Mundol, and Sathya Raghu, moderated by Anindita Majumdar, in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad and the Environment Defense Fund in India. The session examines how communities that have long nurtured forests, wetlands, and other commons now find these ecosystems increasingly strained. Critically, it asks whether climate policies adequately protect both natural ecosystems and the people who depend on them, exploring what future-proofing policy frameworks should look like through case studies on local climates and water systems.
At noon, “Wild Adventures: Incredible Stories from the Field” (12:00-12:50 PM) promises to be among the festival’s most captivating sessions. Conservationists Kobita Dass Kolli, Sujeeth Anne, Ravi Chellam, and Rohit Chakravarty, moderated by Farida Tampal and presented in collaboration with Nature Conservation Foundation and WWF-India, share compelling field stories—from deeply personal relationships with wild animals to profound collaborative efforts protecting threatened species, to the seemingly ordinary moments of curiosity and wonder experienced with plant and animal species. This session celebrates the naturalists who deep dive into incredible experiences, breathtaking moments, and unforgettable lessons learned in the wild.
Sunday afternoon offers two contrasting but complementary workshops. “Natural History Writings in India” (3:00-3:50 PM), led by Asad Rahmani, addresses a critical gap in conservation: public participation requires public understanding. The workshop encourages career biologists and environmentalists to write popular science articles in regional languages and English, recognizing that popular writing has enormous impact in shaping public opinion on conservation and environmental issues.
The day concludes with “Human–Dog Dilemma: Legal & Ethical Interpretations” (4:00-4:50 PM), a timely panel featuring Abodh Aras, Rohit Chawla, and Vivek Mukherjee, moderated by Anjali Lal Gupta, in collaboration with Welfare of Stray Dogs, Animal Law Centre, and NALSAR. In light of recent Supreme Court cases surrounding stray dogs, this panel explores the many layers of thought and practice that must inform legal judgement, examining with rigor the legal and ethical interpretations of human-dog coexistence in our shared cities and world.
A Conversation We Cannot Postpone
What distinguishes Climate Conversations from typical environmental programming is its insistence on complexity without paralysis, urgency without despair. The sessions move fluidly between the intimate and the institutional, the local and the global, the practical and the philosophical. They acknowledge that climate action requires not just policy frameworks and scientific understanding, but also emotional connection, ethical consideration, and the kind of wonder that makes us care enough to act.
As Hyderabad positions itself at the intersection of India’s technological ambition and ecological challenges, these conversations feel particularly resonant. The Climate Conversations stream at HLF 2026 doesn’t offer easy solutions to our planetary crisis. Instead, it offers something more valuable: a space for honest dialogue, shared learning, and the recognition that building nature-rich futures begins with conversations like these—uncomfortable, necessary, and ultimately, hopeful.
- NSH Digi Desk
