Where Research Meets Reality: DMU Hosts Dialogue on Health and Resilience for Assam's Tea Communities
On 12th February, De Montfort University (DMU) hosted a day-long collaborative dialogue at RoyalDe Casa, bringing together researchers, public health experts, industry voices, and community advocates. The focus: health, wellbeing, and building long-term resilience for Assam's tea garden communities facing climate change and socio-economic pressures.
What stood out wasn't just the expertise in the room but how we chose to engage. Creative, participatory methods ensured that voices from the ground actually shaped the direction of the conversation.
Distinguished Speakers
The dialogue brought together an impressive panel of experts:
- Prof. Raghu Raghavan, De Montfort University, UK
- Dr. Sangeeta Goswami, MIND India
- Dr. Venkatesan, Director, Tocklai
- Dr. Rupanjali Deb Baruah, Tocklai
- Usha Lakra, Ethical Tea Partnership, UK
- Dr. Rupa Prasad, PHRN
- Alankar Kaushik, EFLU
From Markzin, Suprio Chatterjee (CEO) and Rajarshi Singha (CTO) joined the dialogue.
Connecting to Unnatea
At Markzin, this work connects closely to why we built Unnatea. It's a platform that helps tea garden workers, especially women, discover and access government welfare schemes through simple, video-based learning in Assamese, Hindi, and English. When someone can navigate their entitlements on their own, that's resilience taking root.
Conversations like these remind us that real progress happens when institutions and communities work side by side.