Ongoing Projects and Engagements

Community Empowerment, Heritage Preservation, and Sustainable Development

Community Empowerment, Heritage Preservation, and Sustainable Development

Handmade Paper Unit Revival, Borong, Namchi District

SF initiated exploratory work towards the revival of a handmade paper unit in Borong, Namchi District. The engagement focused on understanding the decline of traditional production systems, loss of associated skills, and the potential for livelihood regeneration rooted in local knowledge and materials.

The initiative links livelihood revival with cultural heritage preservation and sustainable, low-impact production practices.

Journeying Across the Himalayas Exhibition

As part of SF’s knowledge dissemination efforts, Pema, a member of the Foundation, presented the Dzongu Indigenous Bridge Project as a panelist during the “Building Through Nature” session at the Journeying Across the Himalayas Exhibition, organised by the Royal Enfield Social Mission (Eicher Group Foundation) on December 2025.
This platform enabled broader public engagement with indigenous engineering knowledge systems from Sikkim and their relevance in climate-resilient infrastructure.

Community-Driven Needs Assessment in Sikkim

SF conducted a grassroots needs assessment across rural and urban Sikkim, focusing on gender, climate change, livelihoods, and community-led solutions. Through discussions with over 40 participants, the study revealed significant challenges, including the loss of traditional knowledge for disaster mitigation, decline in agricultural practices, water shortages, and limited market access for farmers. Other key issues included youth migration, education dropouts, cultural heritage erosion, and mental health concerns. These findings are being used to guide future community interventions and policy development.

Dzongu Indigenous Bridge Documentation Project

SF is engaged in documenting indigenous cane-and-bamboo bridge-building practices in Dzongu, a knowledge system that has repeatedly demonstrated resilience, particularly during natural disasters. During the 2023 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), these bridges played a critical role in maintaining access for food and essential supplies, often outperforming modern infrastructure.

The current phase presents a timely opportunity to support structured documentation and inter-generational knowledge transmission, especially as these practices face the risk of disappearance. Community willingness to share and mobilize around this knowledge has enabled meaningful engagement at a crucial moment. SF’s efforts are ongoing, in close collaboration with local communities, to document, disseminate, and preserve indigenous bridge-building skills.