25 July 2025, Bangkok – The three-day Meghna Knowledge Forum II (MKF II) concluded today (25 July) at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, drawing renewed commitment from Barak-Meghna River Basin stakeholders (Bangladesh and India) to strengthen transboundary cooperation, community-led conservation, and inclusive governance across the basin.
On the final day’s valedictory session, Priyanka Sarkar, a consultant on green transition, environment and climate change at NITI Aayog – India’s premier government policy think tank – summarised insights from the youth-led sessions by asserting that while young people are actively working across the basin, they face limited access to formal spaces of influence.
“Youth are already acting,” she said, “but activism without access to the right data and entry points into policymaking is not enough.”
She called for a formalised, basin-wide youth platform and proposed a blended knowledge system using GIS (Geographic Information System) tools, memory mapping, and Indigenous ecological practices.
Fahmida Sultana, a BSc student in Geography and Environment at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Bangladesh, emphasised the value of participatory tools like the River Governance Game used during the intergenerational dialogue.
