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Asanjo Ignites!
Bhuj Youth Storm Posters, Radio & Reels
Ahead of the Asanjo Film Festival, Bhuj youth handled the outreach themselves.
Twenty days before, they split into pairs and small groups to put up posters in everyday public places—tea stalls, shops, tuition centers, schools, and colleges. Ayesha and Shahin went straight to their school, inviting students, teachers, and the principal. They brought in ten more college students who helped distribute them around vending areas and colleges.
Youth part of the process, but unable to give time commitment to make a film, also rejoined the cohort taking up spaces in their neighbourhoods. Vishal collaborated with Akashvani - an all India radio platform, where he and Maya ben talked about the festival in Kutchi. During a Sunday workshop, Chanchal News and Gujarat Samachar crews arrived for youth interviews, airing on TV and YouTube.
Instagram Reels garnered up to 99,000 views, complemented by local print coverage in Kutchmitra and Divya Bhaskar.
Youth Leadership Program: Commitment in Action
A second phase of the workshop on "Youth Leadership Development Program: Commitment in Action", held in Dharan from 27–29 November 2025 was successfully completed. The objective of the program was to share the learning and participate youth to envision and design their future contributions to their communities.
The event was combined with reflection, skills and future planning, using participatory methods to deepen self-awareness, leadership capacity and commitment to civic engagement. The participants got the opportunities to share with clearer personal visions, better communication and relationship skills and practical action plans for community impact with best practices in youth leadership development.
During three days, participants revisited key tools and techniques learned during the program, identified their main achievements after session I (organized six months before) and reflected on how they had applied leadership qualities in personal and professional life. The participants shared that the sessions on learning, listening, dialogue and expansion of awareness helped youth recognize their talents and potential. For the leadership qualities: Appreciative Inquiry, Kaizen and Ikigai approaches which are globally recognized and encouraged to focus on strengths continuous improvement and effective learning and long-term motivation and growth among young leaders.
Participants also explored mindset themes such as comfort zones, definition of insanity and new future including learning cycle that emphasized completing the past, managing the present for a clear vision of the future. The event closed with the sharing on the group presentation with process for implementation of community action plans, periodic reflection meetings to revisit personal visions. The first phase of this workshop was conducted in the Month of May 2025.
The Photo Walk to engage the youth in Dharan
Engaging the team of youth in Dharan, a Photo Walk program was organized in different areas in Dharan during the last week of November 2025.
This event was aimed to capture and document the diverse socio-economic, cultural, and geographical aspects of the community, allowing participants to express their perspectives through photography.
Prior to the Photo Walk program, the participants were provided thorough orientation providing them with essential skills and techniques for effective photography. This hands-on experience not only fostered artistic expression but also encouraged a deeper understanding of the environment in which they live. Following the Photo Walk, there are plans to host a PHOTO EXHIBITION titled “Dharan - through the viewfinder of youth.”
This exhibition will serve as a platform for the young photographers to showcase their work, highlighting the unique narratives and insights they have captured during the event. By presenting their photographs, the youth team is expected to share their individual stories.
Welcome to the Asanjo Film Festival!
For almost a year now, the young group has met every Sunday to probe and ponder, to learn and wonder, to believe and reimagine the many facets of the urban reality they inhabit. Their perseverance and curiosity have shaped what is now the Asanjo Film Festival.
Asanjo means “ours” in Kutchi, a language spoken in the Kutch district of Gujarat. We arrived at the name after much deliberation, because nothing else captured the transformed relationship between the youth and their city.
In the first phase, the youth explored multiple forms of media, each form revealed distinct collective and individual perspectives, but it was participatory videomaking, an accessible mode of community filmmaking, that truly resonated with everyone.
Now, Twenty young people from Bhuj and its adjoining villages will be showcasing their films at the Asanjo Film Festival. Vishal, who lives in a village a few kilometres outside Bhuj, explores his community’s changing relationship with a nearby lake.
Yasmin, a young woman from one of Bhuj’s most marginalised wards, turns her lens on the proliferation of waste around her, but instead of problematising it, she humanises the issue by stepping into the lives of the city’s waste workers. Divya, another participant, focuses on her own Satwara community and their quiet, invisible work of recycling and upcycling discarded clothes.
The festival marks a culmination of this journey, showcasing short films that narrate their stories, concerns, and aspirations for their city. It will feature 14 short films by 20 youth participants from Bhuj alongside 15 films created by young people from other cities across India, opening up opportunities for shared learning and exchange. We invite you all to the Asanjo film festival on 27th and 28th December 2025 at Sharad bagh garden in Bhuj city.
Eco-hiking Program for environmental awareness
The 4th Eco Hiking Program was successfully organized on 8th November 2025 in Dandabari Ward 4, located in Dharan.
This initiative was aimed to highlight a hiking route that is rich in both natural beauty and cultural heritage, providing participants with an immersive experience in the local environment. By showcasing the unique features of the area, the program sought to foster a deeper appreciation for the ecological and cultural significance of the landscape.
The primary objectives of the eco hiking program also included promoting environmental awareness, encouraging sustainable practices, and supporting eco-tourism initiatives. Additionally, the program aimed to provide an educational experience for the youth, equipping them with knowledge about the environment and the importance of conservation. As part of the initiative, a travel video is currently in production, with efforts focused on the editing process to effectively capture the essence of the hiking experience and the stunning visuals of the route.
This video will serve as a valuable tool for promoting future eco-hiking events and raising awareness about the region's natural and cultural heritage.
Behind the Scenes of the City Film Workshops
Behind the Scenes of the City Film Workshops
Behind every film lies a story of persistence, self-discovery, and quiet transformation. What began as a set of workshops soon became a collective act of courage, a space where young filmmakers learned not just how to handle a camera, but how to listen, observe, and tell stories that breathe.
From brainstorming story ideas to framing the first shot, each participant went through moments of hesitation, excitement, and deep learning. The process demanded both skill and heart, holding the camera steady while emotions wavered, capturing imperfect realities with honesty, and learning to see beauty in the everyday.
The first month was about looking inward and understanding one's own life stories. Through workshops on water, waste, food, home, and gender, they began connecting personal memories and realities, tracing how each issue tied back to identity and belonging. Mapping exercises, city walks, and discussions revealed how every street, market, and household held stories waiting to be told. It was a month of questioning and self-discovery, where filmmaking began not with a camera, but with curiosity.
By the second month, reflection turned into action. Ideas were refined into scripts, storyboards, and narrative structures. Participants began collecting footage, learning how to balance vision with the technicalities of shooting. Long days under the sun, imperfect frames, missed moments, and sudden breakthroughs paved the path of our learning moments. Every re-shoot, every frame reviewed with our mentors, brought them closer. “The camera became an extension of their perspective, capturing not just images, but emotions and truths from everyday life.”
The final phase is about turning fragments into films. Editing tables became spaces of both tension and excitement, as stories took shape in new and unexpected ways. The process demanded patience, teamwork, and trust between editors, facilitators, and filmmakers. Technical hurdles were many shaky frames, missing shots, and poor sound, but every mistake became a lesson in patience. Some days were marked by self-doubt, others by small triumphs when a shot finally came together.
Through it all, the team stood by one another: editors, mentors, and filmmakers becoming one creative pulse. Each film, shaped through shared struggles and collective growth, stands as a small testimony to what collaboration can achieve. Together, the 14 films do more than tell stories — they reveal how youth find meaning, courage, and creativity in the act of seeing their own world anew.
The process changed not just what they filmed, but how they looked at themselves and their communities. They will be presenting these stories to the city in the first ever youth led film festival in Bhuj.
Our youth from Bhuj visited Mumbai!
Kutch Yuva Navnirman Samaaj, Bhuj, explore Collective Action, Storytelling and Claiming Space
Our youth from Bhuj visited Mumbai!
Kutch Yuva Navnirman Samaaj, Bhuj, explore Collective Action, Storytelling and Claiming Space
They sent us Notes from the Maximum City.
Over three transformative days in Mumbai, 14 youth leaders from KYNS in Bhuj immersed themselves in the work of local collectives, drawing powerful lessons in community-building, creative resistance, and the value of shared spaces. Our journey begins with Nazariya Arts Collective, where we witness youth using storytelling to reimagine their communities and challenge entrenched systems. Through a collaborative world-building exercise, the youth from Nazariya share experiences and facilitate co-learning amongst the youth in KYNS new to aspects of storytelling. Malwani Yuva Parishad, born from a decade of relentless activism, we experience collective power in action. We understood core values of the collective placing constitutional rights at the center. Members of the parishad refer to each other as ‘sathi,’ reflecting a shared commitment forged through collective processes. In Govandi, we discover the profound impact of creating a space of one's own—a sanctuary to rest, read, and grow.The Govandi Arts Festival further illustrates how art can reshape the identities of both people and neighborhoods, transforming narratives from within. This learning exchange not only deepened understanding of collective action, but also inspired KYNS to reimagine what is possible in their own cities back in Bhuj.
Dharan Team Activities Newsletter, 2025
Youth Leading Change in Dharan
Dharan Team Activities Newsletter, 2025
Youth Leading Change in Dharan
Discover how young people in Dharan, Nepal are transforming their communities through civic media and grassroots advocacy in our latest newsletter (January-May 2025). From creating powerful films addressing unemployment to facilitating Community Action Plans (CAP) across 10 informal settlements, the Dharan Youth Network is proving that young voices can drive real change. This edition showcases the inspiring three-stage CAP process where 17 young facilitators successfully mapped community problems, identified solutions and presented their findings to local government officials who committed to implementing youth-proposed initiatives.
YCIV AT THE WORLD URBAN FORUM 2024
YCIV AT THE WORLD URBAN FORUM 2024
In November 2024, the YCIV team travelled to Cairo, Egypt, to attend the World Urban Forum. Productive conversations were had across all of the Fondation Botnar TYPCITIES research programmes - exchanging knowledge on strategies, challenges, and contextual realities which shape the possibilities for youth participation, access use and control of digitial technologies, and equitable urban governance.
WORKSHOP LAUNCH
WORKSHOP LAUNCH
BHUJ, 2024
BHUJ, 2024
The workshops with youth commenced on November 24, 2024, focusing on the exploration of the Bhuj city map! The program engaged 30 youth participants and 6 volunteers in a session designed to familiarize them with the city’s spatial boundaries. The participants were introduced to key urban landmarks, including Bhujio Hill, Hamirsar Lake, Desalsar Lake, Sarpat Gate, Jubilee Ground, and the location of where we are- the Hunnarshala office! A significant aspect of the workshop involved examining the city’s administrative structure. Participants traced the boundaries of the city’s wards with coloured pens on the map, engaging in discussions about the varying sizes of these wards in relation to population density. This provided insights into how urban space is divided for administrative purposes. The participants also explored the distinction between the Bhuj Area Development Authority (BHADA) boundary and the Urban Local Body (ULB) limits, highlighting how infrastructure development extends further than the ULB boundary in anticipation of the city’s expansion. Another key activity included the identification of personal residences on the map. This process also revealed that several participants lived outside the mapped city area, in nearby villages, while many participants were situated within wards 3 and 10.
WORKSHOP LAUNCH
WORKSHOP LAUNCH
DHARAN, 2024
DHARAN, 2024
A considerable number of workshops have been initiated with the objective of strengthening the capabilities of the youth team since the project's launch in Dharan. The primary goal is to motivate the youth in Dharan to engage meaningfully and effectively with digital media to foster improved urban governance. The inaugural workshop, which took place over two days on May 20-21, 2024, focused on capacity building in Digital Civic Media and Youth Participation. This workshop aimed to deepen the youth's understanding of urban issues, challenges, and opportunities, thereby equipping them for effective advocacy and lobbying efforts that would enhance urban governance and address community needs. In light of the youth team's limited understanding of the municipal planning process, a two-day workshop on Municipal Governance was also organized, supported by municipal officers. This initiative was designed to inform and educate both the youth team and members of the Tole Lane Organizations about the Municipal Planning Process. By providing this knowledge, the workshop sought to empower participants to engage more effectively in local governance and contribute to the decision-making processes that affect their communities. Most recently, the youth team participated in a three-day workshop focused on Story Making, Videography, and Photography. This training was aimed at enhancing their technical skills to create digital stories that highlight the issues and challenges faced by urban poor and marginalized families in Dharan. By developing these competencies, the youth team is better equipped to document and communicate the realities of their communities, thereby fostering greater awareness and advocacy for the needs of these vulnerable populations in Dharan. The impact of these workshops is significant, as they collectively enhance the youth's skills, knowledge, and confidence in engaging with urban governance and advocating for their communities by producing digital stories and organizing forums and discussions on various community issues with the participation of community people and the members of Tole Lane Organizations.
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