Bringing together environmental storytellers, educators, policymakers, youth leaders and communities to create meaningful ecological action across India and around the world.
"Films are the starting point. Community engagement, youth leadership, and lasting partnerships are the outcome."
CMS VATAVARAN is a community action platform that uses environmental cinema as its core convening tool. This year, the 14th International Film Festival drew over 900 submissions from 80+ countries. Curated through a rigorous jury process, these exceptional films serve as the shared evidence base from which every dialogue, workshop, and partnership at the Regeneration Forum flows.
When participants witness the same documented reality of a community displaced by floods, a species pulled from extinction, or a village restoring its river, they are no longer debating abstractions. That shared witnessing is what transforms CMS VATAVARAN from a conventional conference into a powerful catalyst for real-world solutions.
CMS VATAVARAN is India's pioneering green movement and an initiative of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) — a premier think tank dedicated to informing policies, programmes, and practices for equitable development. Since 2002, we have harnessed the power of environmental storytelling to build awareness, deepen ecological understanding, and catalyse action for the natural world.
Discover the Forum 2026The 14th edition delivers impact through three integrated tracks of action — what the Forum is designed to enable and what the movement measures itself against.
Environmental stories of displacement and degraded ecosystems often remain invisible to the communities best placed to act on them. We bridge this gap by taking stories shared in Hyderabad directly into schools, universities, and villages through year-round travelling outreach. Partner organisations can co-facilitate these programs, extending the Forum's reach into their own networks and geographies.
Deepened grassroots environmental literacy, ensuring critical ecological issues are placed firmly on local and institutional agendas.
The critical gap in climate action is a shortage of skilled young leaders. Throughout the Forum, a dedicated youth track provides direct mentoring, capacity-building in environmental communication, and clear pathways to green livelihoods. Supported by our Green Ambassadors and Young Environment Journalists Awards, young people leave not as passive participants, but as capable catalysts for change.
A trained cohort of youth equipped with measurable, real-world skills in leadership, communication, and green careers.
Organisations driving ground-level restoration rarely find the collaborators needed to scale their work. The Forum acts as a rare institutional convergence point, built to generate working relationships rather than just conversations. By uniting green enterprises, educators, and funders, we create the conditions for cross-sector collaborations that outlast the event itself.
Strategic, high-impact public-private partnerships that connect grassroots initiatives with national and global resources.
"Sustainability asked us to do less harm.
Regeneration asks us to actively restore."
This 14th edition carries added significance as CMS VATAVARAN has been entrusted to serve as the Secretariat of the IUCN #NatureForAll Initiative from 2026 to 2029. This prestigious mandate positions CMS VATAVARAN as a living bridge.
The #NatureForAll global movement comprises over 620 partners across 90+ countries, working collectively to strengthen public connection with the natural world. This creates a rare opportunity for our partners to connect local Indian conservation efforts with massive international relevance.
IUCN #NatureForAll partners across 90+ countries, working collectively to strengthen public connection with the natural world.
Building on this legacy, the CMS VATAVARAN Regeneration Forum — anchored by our 14th International Film Festival — will take place in Hyderabad from 24–27 November 2026. This four-day event arrives at a pivotal moment when the world must shift from merely sustaining a degraded planet to actively restoring it.
By placing a special emphasis on green jobs, sustainable livelihoods, clean energy, and environmental communication, we ensure that environmental action is directly linked to economic empowerment, institutional change, and long-term community resilience.
14th International Environmental Film Festival
900+ submissions from 80+ countries, curated through rigorous jury processStrategic Dialogues & Capacity-Building Workshops
Policymakers, educators, youth leaders, and media professionalsYouth Leadership Track & Green Ambassadors
Young Environment Journalists Awards & green livelihood pathwaysCross-Sector Partnership Formation
Green enterprises, educators, and funders converging for lasting collaboration
