ITANAGAR, Sep 15: Keyi Panyor district on Tuesday initiated a collaborative process to develop a scientific and community-owned knowledge base to guide its long-term development under the Keyi Panyor Mission Plan 2040 (KPMP 2040).
The Integrated Landscape Mapping and Know Your Basti Inception Meeting, held at the DK Convention Centre here, brought together elected representatives, district administration officials, scientists, technical institutions, universities, government departments and civil society organisations under the leadership of Yachuli MLA Toko Tatung.
The initiative seeks to combine modern geospatial and scientific mapping with village-level knowledge of land, water, forests, biodiversity, agriculture, livelihoods, settlements, climate risks and public services.
A key component of the initiative is the involvement of local youth as “Ecosystem Stewards”. They will be trained to work within their respective bastis and document household experiences, traditional knowledge, customary practices and inputs from elders alongside scientific and official data.
Addressing the gathering, Tatung said the district’s status as a new district provided an opportunity to make informed development choices before decisions became difficult to reverse.
“We do not want technology or institutions to become bigger than the people they are meant to serve. We need the best science available, but we also need science that is willing to listen,” he said.
The technical session featured a presentation by Samita Manohar on the CoRE Stack ecosystem, Commons Connect and the Know Your Landscape platform, including applications and tools proposed for the Know Your Basti and integrated landscape-mapping exercise.
Deputy Commissioner Ankita Mishra and KPMP 2040 CEO MJ Vijayan clarified operational issues concerning platform use, field-level data collection, institutional coordination and adaptation of the initiative to Keyi Panyor’s local conditions.
The discussions emphasised that local youth should not be limited to the role of data enumerators. Under the proposed Ecosystem Stewardship model, they will be trained as local researchers capable of documenting, verifying and retaining knowledge within the district while working alongside scientific and technical partners.
Vijayan said the mapping programme forms part of the broader 20-point KPMP 2040 framework, which covers democratic governance, education and health, livelihoods and employment, agroecology and food systems, forests and water, climate resilience, women and youth, indigenous culture, infrastructure, renewable energy, disaster preparedness and strengthening of district institutions.
The meeting also confirmed that work would proceed on the proposed Mini Secretariat for Keyi Panyor through collaboration between the district administration and the KPMP team under the leadership of the MLA. The initiative, led by Padma awardee Rajeev Sethi, seeks to combine functional public administration with indigenous design, local identity and appropriate modern technology.
The roundtable brought together experts and representatives from the Arunachal Pradesh Biodiversity Board, APSAC, Agriculture and Horticulture departments, Geological Survey of India, State Forest Research Institute, Botanical and Zoological Survey institutions, GBPNIHE, KVK, Rajiv Gandhi University and ArSRLM, among others.
MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and Foundation for Ecological Security (FES India) are expected to provide knowledge and technical support, while the Participatory Action Research Coalition of India (PARCI) is facilitating the broader collaboration. IIT Delhi’s technical engagement through the CoRE Stack ecosystem is also expected to support the mapping and data architecture.
The consultation discussed institutional roles, pilot locations and the next steps required to develop an integrated district evidence system.
The broader objective is to position Keyi Panyor as a pilot district for a development model that brings together scientific evidence, indigenous knowledge, public institutions and democratic participation.
Concluding his intervention, Tatung urged participating institutions to actively contribute to the mission. “Do not remain guests of KPMP 2040. Become part of it,” he said.
The next phase will focus on finalising the mapping methodology, identifying pilot bastis, training Ecosystem Stewards and defining responsibilities among participating institutions, stated an official communique here.