CIKP emerged from a long history of engagement by its members around questions of colonialism and enclosures of land and waters in the Wasaib. Opposing large-scale water infrastructure (such as canals and barrages), land enclosures for corporate interests, and proposals for coal plants, members relied on different epistemologies and practices to demonstrate world-making that is responsive to ecological histories and presents. With a deep focus on community engagement, members have developed a range of pedagogies and practices to respond to these enclosures.
With the recent introduction of large-scale solar power infrastructure in the Wasaib, CIKP was founded in 2023 to develop a structured response to these interventions. The goal is to bring local communities to the center of discussions around renewable energy infrastructure in Pakistan. With a deep commitment to the transition to renewable energy to respond to climate-changed futures, we believe that there is a need to recognize the patterns of extraction and dispossession that have been used historically for infrastructural projects and potentially delegitimize the transition to RE. As such, we believe in developing innovative models of RE that rely on community knowledge and practices and are collaborative with distributive effects for communities. Our experience in community building in the geographical location of Solar RE allows us to be important actors in shaping this emergent landscape.
Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Praxis 