Climate, Care & Community: Women Leading Change

We often speak about cities through the lens of development—smart infrastructure, growth, progress.But our conversations rarely reach the places where most urban residents actually live—informal settlements, low-income communities, bastiyaan.Here, water is not a basic service.It’s a daily struggle.A toilet is not just infrastructure.It’s about dignity.And a home is more than a roof—it is safety, stability, and resilience.Climate change, extreme heat, water scarcity, sanitation—in reports, these are numbers.On the ground, they are lived realities.And yet, some of the most practical solutions to these challenges come from the very people whose voices are least heard—local communities, and especially women.In this episode, we bring those voices to the centre.We sit down with Bharati Bhonsale, who has spent over 25 years working on housing, water, and sanitation in urban poor settlements, leading large-scale initiatives with Mahila Housing Trust across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.Joining her is Pratibha Sunil Choudhary, a resident of Amalner’s Bengali File slum, a Community Action Group (CAG) leader, and a Vikasini and Paryavaran Sakhi with MHT—turning lived experience into collective action.This conversation explores how climate resilience is built from the ground up, how women emerge as city-makers, and why the future of our cities depends on listening to those who have long been unheard.Because real urban transformation doesn’t begin in policy papers—it begins in communities that refuse to be invisible.CreditsHost: Shreya MGuests: Bharati Bhonsale, Pratibha Sunil ChoudharyResearch: Alisha CArtwork: Rajnikant SProduced by: The Good SightConcept: The Good SightFor feedback or to participate, write to us at ⁠[email protected]⁠#UrbanResilience #ClimateJustice #WomenLead #InclusiveCities #MahilaHousingTrust #TheGoodSight #GroundUpChange