Curated by EkoGalaxy
Dr. Urvi Desai & Shreyas Sridharan
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
HLF 2025 is here & how! The stream ‘Climate Conversations’ – curated by EkoGalaxy founders, Shreyas Sridharan & Dr. Urvi Desai – bring Giants in the field of environmental conservation, wildlife, the climate & all things fantastic from the natural world to the Festival. Don’t miss this!
- Green Festival – HLF has always been a green festival. For years now, it has sought to be plastic-free, reuse decor and infra, serve guests water in glass bottles, and encourage all attendees to use public transport, bring their own bottles, and more.
- Curated by EkoGalaxy – the stream Climate Conversations is put together by EkoGalaxy – a platform for climate education and engagement. They represent the UNESCO Greening Education Partnership in India. They partner with schools and colleges across India & Europe. EkoGalaxy founders are Shreyas Sridharan and Dr. Urvi Desai.
- Critical Conversations – this stream adds an important & necessary layer to the city’s Festival– it mainstreams critical conversations about climate, the environment & our natural world. The environmental crises surrounds us – this makes such nuanced and intelligent conversations all the more important.
- Diverse Themes & Formats of Engagement – Climate Conversations brings some of the most interesting & accomplished people in the field together – for panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, stage talks, standup comedy, music, and more. The diverse themes of this stream reflect the wide experience of speakers – such as biodiversity, climate education visibilising the natural world, policy perspectives, re-imagining ourselves vis-à-vis the natural world, the many expressions of nature, and more!
- Fantastic Speakers – the speakers of the stream include the most fantastic people in the field, such as the country’s leading conservationists, writers, academics, poets, policymakers, filmmakers, photojournalists, artists, industry experts, researchers, musicians, and more. Some of our esteemed speakers are Bittu Sahgal, Romulus Whitaker, Janaki Lenin, Dr. Asad Rahmani, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Dr. Anindita Majumdar, Dr. Sultan Ismail, Bijal Vachharajani, Yuvan Aves, and so many more.
- Incredible Collaborations: EkoGalaxy for Climate Conversations is thrilled to be collaborating with some of the most fantastic organisations & institutes doing remarkable work in the field, such as IIT-H, Mongabay, Indian Pitta, Sanctuary Asia, CEEW and more – to bring the very best sessions to HLF 2025. Unmissable!
The incredible line-up of speakers includes:
- Ahtushi Deshpande
- Alina Sen
- Anindita Majumdar
- Arathi Menon
- Asad Rahmani
- Asif Qureshi
- Bijal Vachharajani
- Bittu Sahgal
- Brikesh Singh
- Janaki Lenin
- Lavanya Suresh
- Pankaj Sekhsaria
- Priyadarshini Panchapakesan
- Raghav Mandava
- Rishiraj Kulkarni
- Romulus Whitaker
- Sejal Mehta
- Soumya Swaminathan
- Sultan Ahmed Ismail
- Tejah Balantrapu
- Usha Raman
- Yuvan Aves
24 – 26 Jan at Sattva Knowledge City
Free & open to all Don’t miss this!
Contact: Dr. Urvi Desai +91 8897269720
Climate Conversations at HLF 2025
Curated by EkoGalaxy
Dr. Urvi Desai & Shreyas Sridharan
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Waterworld(s): Celebrating River Ecosystems
Anindita Majumdar & Asif Qureshi
🗓 Friday 24 January 2025
⏱ 11.00 – 11.50 AM
Session Type: Workshop
Collabs: IIT-H
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Welcome to our changing waterworld(s)! In the midst of a climate crisis, we must remember that our waters are also fast losing the battle to live and thrive. Riverine worlds in India are now increasingly under threat, and we are fast facing the possibility of being swallowed by the seas and oceans; or becoming vast deserts. Yet, our rivers have traditionally been havens of people, animals and ecological wonderment. In contemporary rural and agrarian India, rivers retain their civilizational ethos, as repositories of human settlements and bountiful life. It is this imagination of the river that we would like to invoke through an art engagement by asking: what makes a river ecosystem? How can we reimagine our relationships with our rivers?
T20: Twenty Traits of a Teacher
Sultan Ismail
🗓 Friday 24 January 2025
⏱ 12.00 – 12.50 PM
Session Type: Workshop
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Education should be aimed towards the Joy of Learning, and in a certain way satisfy the needs of future generations. What becomes relevant to the learner is a balance between what the teacher thinks is important and what interests the learner. Good pedagogy enhances a child’s capacity to learn. The role of a teacher needs to be viewed in this new perspective from “completing a syllabus” to a “knowledge transfer facilitator”, to change from “fact-based teaching” to “complex problem solving”. To “A” teacher a class may be a challenge but to “THE” teacher every class is a dream, and for this as a teacher for five decades, I experienced 20 traits that are essentially required for a teacher, which would be deliberated.
Superheroes, Shapeshifters, Invisibility Cloaks and Us: Writing about our wild backyards
Sejal Mehta
🗓 Friday 24 January 2025
⏱ 2.00 – 2.50 PM
Session Type: Workshop
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
This talk aims to ask us to engage with the wildlife around us. It will take you through wildlife around us through the superpowers that wild creatures have – Meet shape-shifting octopuses at Juhu’s crowded beaches, ninja cone snails shooting venomous harpoons at rocky tidepools, regenerating worms and sea sponges, animals having their own invisibility cloaks, midwife fruit bats outside our windows and so on. Characters from the avengers, Potter, and even films make appearances. Our urban spaces are teeming with wild creatures with superpowers. And the best bit, you don’t need a ticket to a national park to meet them.
Journeying with India & the Natural World
Asad Rahmani & Bittu Sahgal
🗓 Friday 24 January 2025
⏱ 3.00 – 3.50 PM
Session Type: Conversation
Collabs: Indian Pitta, Juggernaut, Sanctuary Asia
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
This is a conversation between Giants in the field of Indian biodiversity and conservation. It explores their own journeys & stories behind the scenes – the struggles, challenges and joys – of India and her exquisite, fragile, and beautiful Natural World. Unmissable.
Telling Better Stories: For Nature & Ourselves
Bittu Sahgal
Moderator: Bijal Vachharajani
🗓 Saturday 25 January 2025
⏱ 11.00 – 11.50 AM
Session Type: Conversation
Collabs: Sanctuary Asia
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Policy Perspectives & the Planet
Pankaj Sekhsaria, Soumya Swaminathan, Sultan Ismail
Moderator: Lavanya Suresh
🗓 Saturday 25 January 2025
⏱ 12.00 – 12.50 PM
Session Type: Panel Discussion
Collabs: MSSRF
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
The well-being of the planet (and all of us) lies at the intersection of science, health, storytelling, research & critical analysis. Within this, what is the role of policy and institutions towards solving some of our world’s biggest challenges? Our fantastic experts, with decades of experience behind them, tell us more.
Eco-Tales Across Borders
Priyadarshini Panchapakesan
🗓 Saturday 25 January 2025
⏱ 2.00 – 2.50 PM
Session Type: Workshop
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
“Eco-Tales Across Borders” is an interactive storytelling and creative writing workshop led by Priyadarshini Panchapakesan, author of the eco-fiction novella “The Myth of the Wild Gaur”. This 45-minute session will combine visual storytelling and hands-on activities to encourage environmental awareness. Participants will start by illustrating their imagined version of the wild gaur, inspired by her book set in the Western Ghats. In the second half, Priyadarshini will guide them to explore and write about environmental issues specific to Hyderabad, encouraging thoughtful reflection through poems, descriptive pieces, or short paragraphs. The workshop aims to inspire participants to engage with local environmental issues and conservation efforts meaningfully.
Climate Expressions: Forging Unique Connections with Nature
Ahtushi Deshpande, Rishiraj Kulkarni, Sejal Mehta
Moderator: Bijal Vachharajani
🗓 Saturday 25 January 2025
⏱ 3.00 – 3.50 PM
Session Type: Panel Discussion
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Eminent biologist E. O. Wilson’s “biophilia hypothesis” suggests — that humankind has an innate affinity for the natural world – and that the human attraction to nature is genetically hardwired within us. It is in our primal biology to have a sense of wonder, awe, and a sense of belonging to a larger community of nature. For own well-being, it is fundamental to develop a harmonious relationship between ourselves and the biosphere – and evolutionary psychology argues for greater syncretism between human cultures and the natural world – in simple words, the importance of time spent in contact with nature is critical for us. This may be done in surprising and inspired ways. Our incredible speakers take us through their own unique journeys, via music, photography & art, strengthening their connections with the natural world. Don’t miss this!
Climate Crisis & the Battle for Imagination
Arathi Menon, Bijal Vachharajani, Yuvan Aves
Moderator: Usha Raman
🗓 Sunday 26 January 2025
⏱ 11.00 – 11.50 AM
Session Type: Panel Discussion
Collabs: Mongabay
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Every crisis is, at its heart, a storytelling crisis. In the case of the health of the planet, too, we are limited by the stories we tell (or do not tell). Our incredible speakers explore the roles of awe, wonder & hope, while also reckoning with ecological grief & dread in discussions of the climate crisis. Don’t miss this!
Extraordinary Stories of the Natural World
Janaki Lenin & Romulus Whitaker
Moderator: Tejah Balantrapu
🗓 Sunday 26 January 2025
⏱ 12.00 – 12.50 PM
Session Type: Conversation
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
This is a conversation between Giants in the field of Indian biodiversity and conservation. It explores their journeys with fantastic creatures & reptiles (and maybe some people too!) & all the amazing stories from behind the scenes. In other words, join us to listen to their incredible adventures with the natural world. Absolutely unmissable!
Visibilising the Living World
Yuvan Aves
🗓 Sunday 26 January 2025
⏱ 2.00 – 2.50 PM
Session Type: Stage-Talk
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
Our existence is made possible by the labour and lives of other beings. This talk will explore how we could practice observing and acknowledging their presence and work around us. Through stories of the smallest beings and excerpts from the book Intertidal, the speaker will invite people into an attention-practice which sees ourselves as relations to all the abounding life around.
Comic Relief for a Warming World
Brikesh Singh, Raghav Mandava
Moderator: Alina Sen
🗓 Sunday 26 January 2025
⏱ 3.00 – 3.50 PM
Session Type: Panel Discussion
Collabs: CEEW, Asar
Venue: Octave 3, Sattva Knowledge City
At the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2025, on the sidelines of the three-day What On Earth! cartoon exhibition, EkoGalaxy, CEEW, and Asar, as part of the ‘Climate Conversations’ sessions, will prove to you that humour might just save the day for climate by taking the science,data and tech from conference tables to more coffee tables! Whether it’s cartoons exposing our fossil-fueled blunders or stand-up acts turning smog into laughable moments, humour makes the heavy stuff a little lighter and a lot more shareable. Come for the conversation, stay for some disruptive ideas and funny anecdotes, and leave with a fresh perspective (and maybe a few laughs about your carbon footprint). See you on 26 Jan 2025 at the HLF!
Climate Conversations Exhibition
“What on Earth!”
Collab: CEEW
Does climate change conjure images of gloom and looming doom for you? Here’s a bit of wit and humour to change that picture!
The What On Earth!® cartoon series by CEEW, one of Asia’s top climate think tanks, brings sustainability and climate conversation to life with some humour. From decoding urban climate resilience to sustainable living to unpacking the geopolitics of climate change, these cartoons have sparked conversations everywhere—college campuses, G20 and COP meetings, the New York Climate Week. And now, this much-travelled series comes to the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2025, thanks to a special CEEW–EkoGalaxy collaboration!
Over three days, dive into the series’ most impactful cartoons that frame points and counterpoints on climate challenges and solutions. Whether you chuckle at their wit or reflect on their depth, this exhibition will make you think, smile, and act.
Oh, and did we mention? Every visitor to the exhibition gets a quirky keepsake to remember the day and the planet forever after! So come for the cartoons, stay for the inspiration, and leave with a smile and fresh ideas to pit your wits against climate to make a change!
