SRINAGAR, KASHMIR — The Civic Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), in support with the Watson Institute and Western Union Foundation, hosted a landmark regional co-design roundtable in Srinagar today. The gathering brought together a diverse cross-section of civil society members, academics, journalists, activists, artists, historians, and youth from across Kashmir—including Bandipora, Kupwara, and Srinagar—to shape a new youth leadership initiative rooted in localized solutions and sustainable economic models.
The roundtable served as the official consultation for the upcoming CIVIC Youth Leadership Fellowship, a 1-year initiative designed to equip young Kashmiris with participatory leadership skills, conflict mediation, and practical tools to address urgent community challenges. Rather than relying on temporary grants or default tourism models, the fellowship emphasizes building permanent, self-sustaining micro-enterprises and local economic capacity.
Speaking at the event, Sajad Rasool, Director of CRDF and a Fellow at the Watson Institute, highlighted the crucial role of youth in driving localized economic autonomy while safeguarding the region’s natural and cultural heritage.
“Storytelling and documented grievances open long-overdue conversations, but storytelling alone cannot pay a young person’s monthly bills,” said Sajad Rasool. “Young Kashmiris need permanent, community-rooted institutions. Through this fellowship, our goal is to empower youth to create dignified, self-sustaining livelihoods that protect our fragile environment, our waterbodies, forests, and biomass, while reviving our rich language, oral histories, and traditional crafts.”
During the three-hour interactive session, participants engaged in asset-mapping exercises that linked personal heritage and cultural memory directly to economic opportunities. Key discussions highlighted both systemic challenges—such as environmental degradation, loss of traditional architecture, biomass burning, and language decline—and high-potential local assets.
Key areas identified by participants for youth-led enterprise and capacity building included:
• Sustainable Value Chains & Agriculture
• Environmental & Waste Solutions
• Cultural & Artisanal Heritage
• Skills & Capacity Building
The consultation emphasized that revenue generated from these youth-led micro-enterprises will feed back into a community-governed reinvestment model, supporting local development priorities and funding future youth cohort stipends.
The insights, governance recommendations, and resource maps generated during today’s consultation will directly form the core curriculum for the inaugural cohort of the CIVIC Youth Leadership Fellowship.
About Civic Research and Development Foundation (CRDF):
The Civic Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) is a Kashmir-based non-profit organization dedicated to fostering youth leadership, civic engagement, and grassroots economic innovation across underserved communities.
