V2V PHOTO OF THE WEEK 2026
V2V Photo of the Week: January 28, 2026
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This photo was taken in Kumirmari, a remote village in the Sundarbans, during the Winter Field School in January 2026. This picture depicts a pond near a household in Kumirmari, Sundarbans, highlighting its role as a source of daily sustenance and resilience for the village community. The village mainly depends on farming and fishing for its livelihood, and people cultivate small plots of land near their homes, growing several varieties of vegetables. The land has experienced several instances of natural disasters and other calamities over the years. However, most of the people of the village that we interacted with during our stay emphasised how much they love their village and that they would not want to move away from this place, despite everything. This pond is a testament to the resilience that the people have in this place; the resilience that helps them to come back and set their lives up again even after the adversities they face in this precarious place. The pond also becomes a lifeline for the people here, providing them with their daily sustenance.
Photo credit and contributor: Angelina Thomas, 2026
V2V Photo of the Week: January 21, 2026
The Sundarbans Winter Field School on Transboundary, Transdisciplinarity, and Transformation through Transitions (4T) took place in Kumirmari, Gosaba, in the Indian Sundarbans from January 16 to 22, 2026. This year’s theme was centred on “Creative Ethnographies and Knowledge Co-Creation for Viable Social-Ecologies”, in collaboration with the SOR4D-funded ENGAGE4Sundarbans project, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, and the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).
The field school explored ethnography as a creative and collaborative research approach, combining qualitative methods with visual and sensorial practices such as photography, collage, illustrative storytelling, collaborative mapping, and the co-creation of augmented artefacts. These more-than-textual methods highlighted alternative ways of producing and sharing knowledge to address the complex challenges faced by vulnerable social-ecological systems like the Sundarbans. Artists, practitioners, community members, grassroots mobilizers, academic researchers, and students participated in the programme. The field school was hosted at Sundarban Bari in Kumirmari by Tapas Mondal and fellow community mobilizers from the Sundarban Paryatan Pariseba Samabay Samiti Ltd.
Mentorship was provided by Prof. Prateep Kumar Nayak (University of Waterloo), Prof. Jenia Mukherjee (IIT Kharagpur), Prof. Sekhar Mukherjee (Anant National University), and noted artist and filmmaker Sarbajit Sen. Participants were divided into four groups and undertook field visits across different parts of Kumirmari village, using diverse sensorial approaches to explore local vulnerabilities and viabilities. Through transdisciplinary engagement, the groups worked toward identifying pathways for co-created solutions and transformative transitions within the Sundarbans’ social-ecological systems.
Photo credit and contributor: Souradip Pathak, 2026
V2V Photo of the Week: January 14, 2026
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This photo was taken in Kampung Salang, Tioman Island, Malaysia, and it tells the story of contrast—between thriving tourism and quiet abandonment. The image shows an abandoned bar in a kampung that otherwise booms with visitors, where most locals own and profit from chalets, restaurants, and dive shops. Yet this space stands still, left behind. It creates a striking contrast between sustained viability and neglect. Across Tioman Island, and on many islands throughout Malaysia, failed development projects and closed shops are left desolate, with no clear responsibility for who should clean up what remains. Locals and tourists pass by this bar on their way to dinner, barely noticing it anymore—abandonment has become part of the everyday landscape.
This scene mirrors the realities of many small-scale fishing and coastal communities, where uneven development brings short-term growth but leaves long-term scars. It reflects how livelihoods tied to tourism and coastal resources can be fragile, shaping spaces where resilience and vulnerability exist side by side.
Photo credit and contributor: Chuah Yi Ying Jenelle, 2025
V2V Photo of the Week: January 7, 2026
This photo was taken in Mangalajodi Bird Sanctuary in the Chilika Lagoon and represents both hope and transformation. Once known as a site of bird hunting, the community has since shifted toward conservation, recognizing the ecological and cultural value of protecting wildlife. The eggs become a symbol of continuity and regeneration—life that will sustain not only the species but also the broader ecosystem.
The wetlands are thus more than a source of livelihood; they serve as a home for diverse ecological processes. By safeguarding these fragile forms of life, local communities demonstrate how human well-being and environmental sustainability are deeply interconnected. The protection of bird habitats reflects a broader vision of resilience, where conservation and livelihoods coexist in mutual reinforcement.
Photo credit and contributor: Jubakti Anggoro, 2025