About TDF Session 203
More details on the session and the Zoom link available on Registration.
About Harshit Sosan Lakra
Architect & Planner
Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Roorkee, Uttarakhand
Dr. Harshit Sosan Lakra, a proud Oraon Tribe woman from India, serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning, IIT Roorkee. Harshit has a keen interest in interdisciplinary research with a special focus on the environment, indigenous communities, gender, culture, education, mountain ecosystems, and disaster management. Her Ph.D. research evolved with her self-realization as a member of the community and her work with indigenous youths in Jharkhand, Odisha, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Uttarakhand for nearly ten years. Her Doctoral research titled “Indigenous Communities’ Perception of Association with a Place, Cultural Capital and Enabling Environment in an Urban Context” involved strong qualitative analysis using advanced statistical tools and intensive community engagement.
At the international level Harshit is currently leading an Asia Pacific Network (APN) funded project “GoAL: Gender oriented Adaptive Transformation cross-Learning for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Resilience among India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Japan” where she reviews and brings issues of Indigenous People in Indian landscape for cross learning.
At the national level she is leading project titled “Adaptation of Indigenous and Local knowledge Systems and Fintech Solutions for Comprehensive Tribal Development in Chhattisgarh State” under the Tribal Area Sub plan (TSP) scheme funded by IIT Bhilai Innovation and Technology Foundation.
In Jharkhand, a Tribal protected state by Constitution of India, Harshit has finished a research project Titled “Benchmark Survey and Developing Tribal Development Index” along with the Department of Management Studies and Department of Humanities and Social Sciences IIT Roorkee funded by Ram Dayal Munda Tribal Research Institute Jharkhand, under Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. Through this project, the institute got an opportunity to engage with the local communities and a wide range of stakeholders. The study also has its significance in terms that it has been done for the first time and it is relevant for other States and countries to learn. Students got to engage at multiple levels and stages. The report is in its final stage and the web tool for the same is in progress. Project work pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10161144186148254&type=3
Glimpses of one of the current student’s experiences: https://www.facebook.com/710598253/videos/1272361486942799/
Further, in Jharkhand, Harshit also engaged MURP Planning Studio-III focusing on Tribal Communities Vulnerability to Climate Change in Partnership with Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Dumka, Jharkhand. Faculty members and students of both the institutions got opportunity to co-research in the process. This helped in cultural exchange and understanding among the students and community members. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10161144280363254&type=3
Similarly, in Odisha through funding from IIT Roorkee, and in-kind support from WOSCA and District Administration Keonjhar, Odisha, the community and students collaborated for the project Ninjhan Gaon O Ninjhan Injha ; Our Village and Our Home; Co-building project to prototype Junag PVTG dwelling unit in Keonjhar, under her leadership. Students from Undergrad, Master, and PhD scholars got an opportunity to research, design and build with the community and see landscape and architecture from an Indigenous perspective. The dwelling unit will be transferred to self-help groups mainly women groups and will be used as a homestay for further continued research https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10161144314178254&type=3
Harshit has taken the initiative to organize International Day for World Indigenous People on the campus and many Tribal Festivals celebrating nature, indigenous people, and the student community. She has also partnered with Tribal Research Institute, Uttarakhand. Through academic collaboration, fieldwork was undertaken to connect IIT Roorkee students with the Tribal students in the remote hill areas of Uttarakhand through Ashram Type Schools (ATS) in four districts. The partnership also helps to engage IIT Roorkee students to develop various technological, design and planning interventions for the community. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10161144409303254&type=3
Harshit has an ongoing academic collaboration with the Government of Manipur and the Tribal community to study the Tribal settlements and architecture in the state. The academic collaboration has been very well received by the community and students. Through the partnership, she mobilized the community and developed a village development plan and prototype for the Mao community in Kalinamai Village (hill community) of Senapati District Manipur, and also initiated resource mobilization for multiple community-based technological interventions.
Link to students and community work:
- Mao Tribe Traditional House SPARK internship project https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/my-drive
- North East Architecture Sample Class Project https://youtu.be/RjIZUmEX3H4
- North East Architecture Sample Class Project https://youtu.be/xjNe1hGSp8w
Link to developed agriculture-related technology through community mentoring in Manipur like vegetable drying machine and hybrid model of rice thresher.
Harshit also mobilized resources and lead the IIT Roorkee team from India to partner with BRAC University initiated by British Council to co-design and co-build Low Carbon Net Zero Bamboo Structure by engaging girl students from IIT Roorkee and the local community from Uttarakhand. Through the project, multipurpose bamboo and mud structure has been built which is now an asset for the institute and also improved livelihood opportunities for the craft person involved from the hill community. The project was funded by the South Asia Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (SAADRI) and CoEDMM IIT Roorkee. https://www.facebook.com/lowcarbonbuilding/
She is also appointed as visiting faculty at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya.
Further, she has also undertaken research on ethnic neighborhoods of Ranchi, Jharkhand funded by IITR. Her another field research project titled “Model Village Development with Public and Private Partnership” dealing with housing needs and cultural aspects of the Juang community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in the remote hills of Odisha, has been completed successfully. The project was funded by Housing and Urban Development Corporation and Human Settlement Management Institute (HUDCO/HSMI).
Harshit is also a founder member of the Adivasi Development Network which works with indigenous youths. Currently, more than two hundred volunteers work with her on indigenous issues, cultural promotion, and community building in Jharkhand. https://www.facebook.com/adivasinetwork/
