The Planetary Health Interpretation Centre (PHIC) is an innovative collaborative research centre initiated in November 2020 at the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh. PHIC aims to address health inequalities, promote community-based engagement, and explore the connections between public health, wildlife conservation, and the environment. The centre follows an interdisciplinary and intersectoral participatory action research model that involves diverse stakeholders and community members.
The PHIC is currently owned and managed by the Forest Department, whose staff mostly come from the surrounding areas, ensuring they are committed to their communities. The centre is utilised by local schools for educational outings, meetings, and movie screenings. Immersive experiences deepen participants' connection to the environment, enabling their understanding of the interconnectedness of planetary health. The PHIC serves as a multifaceted hub for education, dialogue, collaboration, and conservation.
Learning from the successes of the PHIC and aiming to address the lack of transdisciplinary, community- led research collaborations in northeast India, a group of researchers and practitioners founded the Canopy Collective in 2023. The Canopy Collective is an interdisciplinary initiative working at the intersection of art, science, and action for wildlife conservation and research. It envisions fostering community-owned, multidisciplinary, and inclusive spaces to enable collaborations that enhance community well-being and education in northeast India. Canopy Collective also emphasises the importance of embedding researchers within the study context for a significant period of time before initiating research in order to ensure effective community collaboration and enhance research efficiency and effectiveness.
The Canopy Collective and the PHIC operate as part of a large ecosystem called the Living Labs , which has a larger vision of establishing physical spaces, an online collective, and a wider support structure to facilitate collaboration for community engagement and reflective practices to co-produce and implement the idea of planetary health on the ground. Additionally, Canopy Collective partners with the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru to foster online collective and collaborative support for community engagement in planetary and One Health and partners. The Collective also works with the Green Hub, a well-established youth fellowship programme that uses visual media for biodiversity conservation with indigenous filmmakers. Canopy Collective fosters a partnership between Green Hub Fellows, the PHIC, and the forest department in northeast India to hold events of mutual interest and help in the creation of video materials.
The stories and insights emerging from the work of PHIC and the Canopy Collective illuminate the importance of breaking down barriers, fostering genuine connections, and embracing a diversity of thought and expertise in planetary health science.
The relationship between researchers and the communities, forest departments included, in Pakke is multi-faceted and influenced by factors such as long-term commitment, adaptability, and the evolving perception of their work. Researchers who commit to long-term engagement are more able to navigate the logistical challenges and field conditions unique to the region. The forest department and community also trust and engage with researchers who commit to such efforts, including a group of female researchers who have led several pioneering efforts on hornbill protection and research. Reflecting on what researchers gain from working at PHIC, a staff member reflected:
“If I am a researcher, I’d like this place to help me find meanings and insights from the ground and to be challenged in such spaces - it should ground the researcher and the research”
In terms of relationships, the dynamics between different stakeholders, such as the Forest Department, local communities, and researchers, are perhaps less tense compared to other regions in the country. While complexities do exist, they are tempered by the relatively novel nature of many of these interactions. This can enable the creation of an environment where open discussion and collaboration are possible, even within the premises of the Forest Department, as seen with the establishment of the PHIC. Such collaborations allow for the sharing of ideas and the consideration of novel approaches that might not be as feasible in other areas with more entrenched biases or adversarial relationships between stakeholders.
Around 200 people from the local area are employed by the Forest Department as frontline staff. They play a crucial role in patrolling efforts and are the backbone of conservation initiatives in the area. The fact that both Forest Department officers and frontline staff often come from tribal backgrounds and are recruited locally moderates these relationships, leading to a more nuanced and cooperative dynamic.
One primary challenge that Canopy Collective faces is the lack of space for transdisciplinary collaboration as well as a dearth of accessible platforms for idea generation, innovation, and collaboration in the realm of wildlife and health research. Canopy Collective is refining its governance mechanisms, scope, and relationships to enable more meaningful and sustainable researcher-community engagement, replicating the modes of the PHIC and its relationships in and around Pakke Tiger Reserve. It will naturally require some time before all these partnerships begin to demonstrate tangible impact beyond the site level.
Canopy Collective and the PHIC advocate for a broader approach to involving communities, moving beyond science communication to emphasise meaningful partnerships with diverse trained professionals to create impactful collaborations. As one PHIC staff member explained:
“A good sign of a participatory space is whether it is claimed and owned by a community of diverse stakeholders.”
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when movement was restricted, the newly-formed PHIC found ways to continue to explore the potential of interdisciplinary collaborations despite restrictions on physical gatherings. They convened virtual focus group discussions called Pakke Addas, mainly conducted with the forest officials, community members, artists, field biologists, conservators, film makers, and researchers, along with the design students and team. The purpose of these discussions was to co-develop content and knowledge experiences with the community for the PHIC.
Within the academic landscape, siloed disciplinary fields often hinder holistic approaches to conservation, resulting in fragmented efforts and missed opportunities for synergy. At the site-level, PHIC’s efforts to operate at the interface of wildlife conservation and health has faced significant funding challenges due to the reluctance of both sectors to allocate resources for transdisciplinary collaboration. This hesitancy to invest in transdisciplinary collaboration leads to a lack of mechanisms for effective problem solving through knowledge exchange and feedback and highlights the need to foster collaborative efforts that recognise the interconnectedness of conservation and public health.
Another hurdle is integrating the arts and humanities into conservation work to serve as a bridge between communities and researchers. Despite their efforts, they observe limited engagement from artists who do site-engaged work. For instance, artists are often given a brief only after data analysis is completed in a research project, rather than being involved as collaborators in research design.
Conveying the complexities of their work in real-world scenarios can prove challenging. The Canopy Collective and PHIC emphasise the importance of working in collaborative, mixed groups involving communicators, educators, and artists, to encourage fresh perspectives and address the broader problem of working in silos. Establishing a knowledge sharing platform could bridge gaps in understanding and promote clearer communication of concepts like the broader implications of "planetary health," fostering a more integrated approach to complex challenges.
An innovative aspect of this work is the attempt to build a broader ecosystem around Canopy Collective and the PHIC, with a vision of establishing a physical space, an online collective, and a wider collaboration for community engagement and reflective practices for co-producing and implementing ideas and research. This approach to knowledge exchange, community engagement, and participation stands out as innovative and disruptive due to its genuine commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, breaking down traditional silos, and fostering a more inclusive research culture.
The spaces and models they work within are characterised by their plural and fluid nature, distinct from what is commonly seen elsewhere. Researchers, government officers, educators, and community members can take on multiple roles and responsibilities. For example, the Green Hub Fellows are often also community members. Building on the place-based ways of working of the PHIC, Canopy Collective aims to push the traditional boundaries of roles: Can a government officer also serve as an educator? Can someone from the local community act as a teacher for the Forest Department? They emphasise the importance of mutual exchange and collaboration within these spaces. All individuals, regardless of their background, can contribute, learn, and expect support from one another. This pluralistic approach fosters a dynamic and inclusive environment where everyone's expertise and perspectives are valued and integrated for the collective betterment of the community and the shared goals of conservation and well-being.
The PHIC in Pakke, designed with adaptable purposes, serves as a versatile platform that encourages diverse individuals and groups to gather and utilise the space, leading to countless creative possibilities. The presence of such a centre, along with the resources offered by the broader ecosystem of the Green Hub and Living Labs, brings together a diverse group of people with varied expertise and serves as a valuable asset for the remote community within the Pakke Tiger Reserve and in other places.
As Canopy Collective is a relatively new platform, many of its relationships and knowledge exchange frameworks are still in the process of evolving. Following the journey of an emerging centre for knowledge exchange like this one may provide valuable insights into effective community engagement and equitable research collaborations.