Coexistence Cartographies: Mapping Multispecies Relationalities from Across IndiaCoexistence Cartographies: Mapping Multispecies Relationalities from Across India

The project draws on a database of publicly available coexistence stories sourced from popular and academic articles, news media, blogs, public social media posts, and online videos. Currently, the archive includes approximately 68 cases (with more being added), collected through snowball sampling, where new examples are identified through references, links, and connections emerging from previously collected stories. We are presently conducting a qualitative content analysis to examine key elements within these narratives, including the values, norms, and practices represented; the actors and knowledge holders shaping the narratives; the species and ecological contexts discussed; and associated challenges, tensions, or threats. This helps identify patterns and relational themes across diverse landscapes, which will then be translated into spatial and narrative layers within the interactive installation. The exhibition format will experiment with ways of transforming this analysis into an accessible and impactful visual experience.

-Large interactive display (touchscreen or projected interface with touch-enabled or mouse/trackpad navigation) -Stable internet connection (or offline mirror of the StoryMap if required) -High-resolution screen or projection surface -Floor or wall space allowing up to 3 visitors to interact simultaneously -QR interface or tablet station to enable audience story contributions

The project is currently in the research and content development phase. A database of approximately 68 stories has been assembled, with ongoing expansion. The team is simultaneously focusing on thematic coding of these stories. Prototype mapping and interface design will be initiated after the analysis. A functional beta version of the StoryMap installation is anticipated within the next 2–3 months, followed by iterative testing, visual refinement, and integration of participatory features, prior to exhibition.

This project is a collaboration between Faculty members (Fellows), Masters students and the Communications team at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru. ATREE is a globally recognised non-profit focused on environmental conservation and sustainable, socially just development.

Students – Dhiya Prasanth, Debasish Satapathy, Pragnaya Bhille, Adithyan S. Nair – are interested in exploring multidisciplinary approaches to communicating human–nature relationships by working at the intersection of conservation research, storytelling, and creative practice. Coming from varied disciplinary backgrounds, Dhiya brings a sociological perspective grounded in environmental anthropology and indigenous livelihoods; Debasish combines training in design with ecology and visual communication; Pragnaya approaches coexistence through botany and animal behaviour; and Adithyan works on environmental decision-making, ecosystem recovery, and science outreach.

The students are mentored by Fellows, Dr. Saloni Bhatia and Dr. Asmita Sengupta, who serve as co-chairs of CONNECT, which is an interdisciplinary research–action initiative at ATREE, which seeks to expand how human–wildlife coexistence is understood, practiced, and imagined. Saloni is an interdisciplinary researcher–practitioner whose work integrates systems thinking, participatory approaches, and rights-based conservation to explore how human and more-than-human communities share space amid ecocultural change, geopolitical pressures, and contested land governance. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the conservation space, including nearly 15 years working across the Himalayan region, particularly in Ladakh. Asmita is an ecologist and primatologist whose research explores primate behavioural ecology, plant–animal interactions, and human–wildlife interactions, with a focus on how people and wildlife co-construct shared socio-ecological niches. She is an Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Associate Fellow and an IPBES Transformative Change Fellow. Beyond academia, she is a theatre enthusiast who writes, translates, and performs in Bengali productions, most recently Bastab Obastab (The Real, the Unreal).

The Communications team at ATREE comprises visual designers, web designers, writers, and filmmakers. It works towards amplifying awareness and deepening public understanding of the organisation’s interdisciplinary conservation work. Collaborating closely with researchers, artists, and media professionals, the team crafts compelling narratives that communicate impact, bridge science and society, and bring stories from the ground to wider audiences. This project reflects the group’s engagement with critical data practices, multispecies thinking, and collaborative knowledge-making.