This is a quick recap of Veditum’s participation at the Justicemakers Mela by Agami. More blogs from other events / conferences between October – December are coming soon!
The last weekend of November saw over 700 justice changemakers come together in the iconic city of Bhopal for the Justicemakers Mela by Agami. The 2-day event brought together justicemakers (innovators & students) from the field of law and justice, to share and learn through art, storytelling, games, and workshops.
The Veditum team attended the mela – organising workshops and conducting talks, as well as engaging with a diverse array of actors and stakeholders from the social and environmental justice space to co-ideate, share stories and offer support in our common justice making journeys.
Read on for a lowdown on what we were up to!
Mining Data Party
We hosted a Mining Data party to find, annotate and upload court documents to the India Sand Watch platform, with attendees from the law and justice space. Reading through sand mining related orders from the NGT sparked some interesting conversations on the governance and policies around sand mining in India.
P.S.: We conduct regular data sprints to expand the open public archive on information related to river sand mining through our project India Sand Watch. Interested in joining us for the next one? Email us at sandwatch@veditum.org
Express your Justicemaking Story
Kabini Amin, a fellow from the Moving Upstream: Betwa fellowship (and the talent behind the India Sand Watch logo and a lot of our design outputs) co-hosted a crafty, creative expression workshop with Samarth, helping attendees visually tell their changemaking stories through colourful zines!
Innovation Pop-up
We also had a stall at the Innovation PopUp (description from Agami: Groundbreaking justice innovations from around the country, presented by the creators themselves).
In the company of some fabulous justice innovators (like Law Firm Ready, Dignity in Difference, and others) we demonstrated the use of archived data on India Sand Watch in informing evidence creation and governance of sand mining in India.
Our stall house multiple interactive displays – both digital and physical, enabling deep conversations with everyone who stopped by!
On display at the mela, right beside our innovation stall, was a scroll – the India Sand Watch journey map. Illustrated and designed by Kabini, and co-created with Aditi from Agami, it allowed people to read & learn about the story of the India Sand Watch project through a visual artefact.
Maps for Justice
Sid, along with Akshay from our partner organisation, Ooloi Labs, hosted an exciting two-part workshop called Maps for Justice. Participants engaged with maps and mapping in new ways, explored the use of maps in the justice space, and even made their own map of the venue!
When the Earth Testifies
Rhea from the Veditum team was part of an exciting panel discussion on evidence in environmental justice cases, along with Abhay Jain from Zenith, environmental journalist Rishika Pardikar, and legal resarcher Tammanna Aurora.
The panelists and attendees shared stories of environmental justice work and discussed the need and potential of folklore, storytelling, traditional ecological knowledge, and local ecologies being used as evidence in cases dealing with traditional land management and rights, environmental destruction and more.
Everyone an Environment Justicemaker
We co-hosted a ‘living library’ along with fellows from Green Hub. From Veditum, it gave participants the chance to engage one-on-one with Veditum team members and fellows to hear the stories of their journeys walking along Indian rivers, and how simple steps can be a start to one’s justice making journey.
Sid who has walked along Ganga, Ken and Mahakali rivers; along with fellows from our Moving Upstream Fellowships – Kabini who has walked along the Betwa; Aishani who has walked along the Sindh, and Satish who has walked along the Luni river – interacted with different people and responded to their curious questions.
Reflections
“The Mela had space for everyone gathering together, but also had multiple pockets of spaces for discussions, conversations, activities around justice making. I feel art and creative expression have a huge role to play in the work around social issues, and the Justicemakers Mela had lots of space for it!
We heard songs of hope, and inspiration sung and performed beautifully by the Swaraj Jail University Band. We also heard stories from the band members, of their life journeys. They created an amazing experience with their songs and stories, and I learnt about a unique way the inmates use to heal, upskill and express themselves.”
– Aishani, Team Veditum
“The mela was a fantastic place to meet new people doing exciting work, and reconnect with some familiar faces! A personal highlight of the mela was meeting some old friends currently running and working with Justice Adda. This amazing group works to improve accessibility of legal tools and empower communities to take legal action.
I participated in their treasure hunt, which had participants exploring the beautiful mela venue in search of objects that represent the intersection of law with our everyday lives. The fun, cryptic clues were hidden at public restrooms, security checks and accessibility ramps and ultimately led back to the Justice Adda team for an engaging discussion on the many ways in which we interact with the law every day.
– Rhea, Team Veditum
Despite a packed and tiring two days, the team left rejuvenated by our interactions with fellow changemakers, inspiring practitioners and enthusiastic participants. Not to mention the delicious local food served at the mela, and the invigorating music and theatre performances every evening!
If the work we do around environmental justice, storytelling, or map making interests you, write to us at contact@veditum.org
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