7th ILDC- "Land- People Relations: Diversity and Transitions"

7th ILDC- “Land- People Relations: Diversity and Transitions”

The India Land and Development Conference (ILDC) is emerging as an annual destination for diverse land actors and enthusiasts in the Global South. Launched in 2017, through its six events, including a virtual one organized during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has brought together more than 2500 participants from across the world (from more than70 countries) to share and discuss important land-related issues over more than 200 parallel sessions, plenaries, master classes, keynotes and artistic/cultural expression events.

Along with triggering conversations on multiple dimensions of land, diverse land tenures, and inter-disciplinary land engagements among inter-sectoral land actors, the conference has also catalyzed partnerships, collaborative research and action. Apart from gaining recognition as one of the world’s biggest and India’s only annual land convergence platform, the conference has also been substantively contributing towards building a symbiotic land ecosystem in India, adding new actors, pieces of evidence and interactions. It remains unique as a collective-led international conference, where collaborators and partners fund the event and set the agenda
without relying on any external sponsor so far.

The contemporary world is witnessing significant shifts and transitions in the way land is used, tenured, and administered. Global and local initiatives, viz. Climate Actions, Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirational agenda of inclusive growth, are impacting local land uses, tenures, and land administration. Formalization and digitization are being promoted as the overarching solutions by the state and market, adopting technology and institutional reform pathways, while the agenda of inclusive land reform by the welfare state remains the intent and is legally mandated.

However, on the ground, land-people relations remain plural, complex, and localized, having been shaped by history and influenced by land laws, socio-cultural factors, and power dynamics. Diversity has been the cornerstone of land-people relations in the global south, which continues to manifest and perpetuate through customary tenure, informality, and tacit institutions despite legal reforms and administrative innovations around formalization. A vast landscape continues to be governed under communal and collective tenures, displaying the spirit of commoning and commonization. These ecosystems are usually the habitats of indigenous people, and local communities also showcase evidence of sustainable resource management and biodiversity conservation. Similarly, land and housing tenure informality, as an embedded reality, persists and evolves in agrarian landscapes and urban settlements, remaining an integral component of the dominant informal economy.

The theme of the 7th ILDC – ‘Land- People Relations: Diversity and Transitions’ draws upon these trends and realities. The November conference seeks to trigger intra- and inter-sectoral and disciplinary conversations and partnerships around the land questions, solutions, and experiences investigating these dimensions.

Dr. Prasad Pathak
PhD – Geography | University of North Carolina - USA
Associate Professor - Environmental Studies, FLAME University

Dr. Chaitanya Ravi
PhD - Environmental Science and Public Policy | George Mason University – USA
Assistant Professor – Public Policy, FLAME University

Dr. Anup Tripathi
PhD, Tata Institute of Social Sciences - Mumbai
Assistant Professor - Sociology, FLAME University

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Contact : 020-6790-6300 (9 AM to 5 PM IST, Monday -  Friday)

Pranab Choudhury
Center for Land Governance, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. 
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Contact : +91-7827114591/ 9039661005 (9 AM to 6 PM IST, Monday - Friday)