Saurabh Tewari and Raina Singh
School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
This paper illustrates the communication design project, Chawalgatha, that attempts to showcase how indigenous knowledge plays a vital role in sustainability. The project encourages people for its significance in protecting, preserving and promoting them to address climate change. The study employs the qualitative research approach with one of the grassroots environmentalists from the region, Padma Shri Babulal Dahiya. The paper focuses on the practices from Central India’s Baghelkhand, where the wide varieties of rice are still available and practised on the field, which Dahiya has highlighted through his unique activism. Dahiya is known for his initiative to preserve rice and other food crops through his investigation of Bagheli folk literature. The research aims to create awareness of indigenous knowledge systems within environmental education and communication design discourse. It underscores the sustainable indigenous practices and folktales related to rice from India.
The paper first explains the need for the project and the methodology of understanding the context through narrative research. It then develops the design through product ideation and development. It constructs the visual language through the rooted pragmatics of the Gond art tradition from Central India, along with employing a papercraft technique to develop a unique visual design on ecological conservation.
KEYWORDS: Agricultural sector, systemic design, sustainable practices, indigenous knowledge, Gond art, Communication design, Indigenous rice, indigenous practices, Central India, Bagheli
