Laying the foundations in a new city
After a four-month delay caused by Covid-19, the Lab recruited its first Youth Climate Champions and Youth Researchers. Champions spread across urban Bengaluru to map communities and the issues that climate change was shaping there, building trust before any data was collected. Youth Researchers focused on climate change and the livelihoods of daily wage workers.
With Sama Foundation, a Youth Resource Centre opened in DJ Halli, one of the city's largest notified slums with around 35,000 residents: a safe space for training, events and community gatherings, supported by two Youth Facilitators.
- National voice: two Youth Climate Champions represented the Lab at the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), feeding into youth recommendations for COP27.
- Partnerships: worked with Mahila Housing Trust and Purpose on shared communities and on how a coalition could work.
Devika Chhabra, DJ Halli
Devika chose water as her focus, seeing it as a strong signal of climate change. Interviews with community members showed that water often arrived mixed with sewage. Women who juggle housework and informal jobs became her strongest allies, so she shaped a women-led approach and planned to test water samples and take findings to the city water board.
“My interactions with the community have made me realise how misinterpreted the idea and the urgency of climate change is. I would like to change that through my work.”
