The AndPurpose Forum, Northeast India 2026 is a curated sustainability and social impact summit convening leaders, innovators, policymakers, and changemakers across Assam, Meghalaya, and the wider Northeast region. Hosted across Guwahati and Shillong, it is part of AndPurpose’s national forum series – following editions in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad – and is specifically designed around the Northeast’s ecological significance, indigenous wisdom, and development challenges. The forum builds towards the AndPurpose Global Summit in New Delhi in 2026.

 Assam and Meghalaya sit at the heart of two of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots — the Eastern Himalayas and the Indo-Burma hotspot. Assam is home to Kaziranga, Manas, and some of the last remaining tall-grass ecosystems on earth, while also being one of India’s most climate-vulnerable states, facing annual floods that displace millions. Meghalaya receives among the highest rainfall anywhere on the planet, sustains extraordinary forest biodiversity, and is governed by community-led institutions – including the traditional Dorbar Shnong system – that are models for participatory conservation. These are not peripheral contexts. They are the frontlines of both the climate crisis and the solutions the world needs.

The forum is designed for CEOs and CXOs, CSR and ESG heads, impact investors, VCs and philanthropies, startup founders, policymakers, think tanks, social entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders working across sustainability, climate, health, and inclusive growth sectors.

The forum is built around six thematic pillars directly relevant to the Northeast and Himalayan region:

🌿 Biodiversity & Forest Conservation – protecting and restoring the Northeast’s extraordinary ecological heritage, including community forest governance and wildlife corridors

🏔️ Climate Resilience & Himalayan Ecosystems – addressing glacial retreat, extreme flooding, erosion, and climate-driven displacement across Assam, Meghalaya, and the Himalayan belt

🤝 Indigenous Communities & Social Impact – centring traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous land rights, and community-led development models

🌄 Sustainable Tourism & Ecotourism – building responsible tourism economies in Meghalaya’s caves and living root bridges, Assam’s wildlife reserves, and beyond

⚡ Clean Energy & Water Access – unlocking the Northeast’s massive hydropower, solar, and water resource potential while ensuring equitable access for remote communities

🌾 Climate-Smart Agriculture & Food Systems – regenerative and indigenous farming practices, flood-resilient crops, and sustainable livelihoods for farming communities across the region

 The forum is curated and deliberately kept intimate — under 200 attendees. It is designed for state and central government officials and policymakers working on the Northeast, conservation scientists, ecologists and forest researchers, social entrepreneurs and impact-focused startups from the region, CSR and ESG heads from corporations with operations in Assam, Meghalaya, or the broader Northeast, impact investors and philanthropic foundations with a Northeast mandate, community-based organisations and tribal leadership bodies, sustainable and responsible tourism operators, climate researchers, think tanks and academics, and NGOs working on livelihoods, forests, water, and health in the region.

Most national sustainability forums treat Northeast India as a footnote — a region mentioned for its biodiversity but rarely given a platform to lead the conversation. The AndPurpose Forum Northeast India is built from the ground up around the region’s specific realities. It is not a metro conference imported to a new city. It is a deliberately designed gathering where Assam’s flood resilience models, Meghalaya’s community conservation institutions, and the Northeast’s indigenous food and farming systems are the main story — not an afterthought. The curated format ensures that every participant, session, and connection is purposeful.

Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge is not a sidebar at this forum — it is central to the agenda. The Northeast is home to some of the world’s most sophisticated community-led conservation systems, including Meghalaya’s sacred forests (Law Lyngdoh), traditional water harvesting systems, and community land governance structures across tribal regions. The forum is designed to elevate these systems alongside scientific and market-based approaches, and to ensure that community voices — not just expert panels — are at the table. We are working with local community leaders, NGOs, and regional organisations to shape the agenda from the ground up.

Meghalaya’s community forest governance — including its sacred groves, clan forests, and the traditional Dorbar Shnong system — is internationally recognised as one of the most effective models of participatory conservation in Asia. The state maintains some of the highest forest cover density in India despite significant development pressures, largely because of these community institutions. The forum will examine how these models can be strengthened, scaled, and integrated into national policy frameworks — and what lessons they hold for conservation efforts across India and South Asia.

 Assam is one of India’s most flood-prone states, with the Brahmaputra’s annual inundation displacing hundreds of thousands of people and destroying livelihoods across agriculture, fisheries, and small enterprise. Climate change is intensifying both the frequency and scale of these floods, while simultaneously threatening the state’s extraordinary biodiversity in Kaziranga and beyond. The forum will bring together government, civil society, research institutions, and impact capital to discuss flood-resilient agriculture, early warning systems, ecosystem-based adaptation, nature-based solutions, and investment frameworks that build long-term climate resilience for Assam’s most vulnerable communities.

Meghalaya and Assam represent some of India’s most extraordinary and underexplored tourism destinations — from Meghalaya’s living root bridges, Nohkalikai Falls, and Cherrapunji’s cave systems to Assam’s Kaziranga and Manas wildlife sanctuaries and the Brahmaputra river circuit. Sustainable tourism is a significant opportunity to generate economic value for local communities while creating powerful incentives for conservation. The forum will examine how ecotourism is being developed in the region, what governance frameworks are needed to prevent over-tourism, and how responsible tourism can become a model for community-centred economic development across the Northeast.

Yes, and this is a priority. The forum is committed to ensuring that Northeast-based startups, social enterprises, and nonprofits have prominent visibility — not just national organisations coming into the region. Organisations working on indigenous agri-tech, community conservation, clean energy for remote communities, ecotourism, flood-resilient livelihoods, healthcare access, and water solutions are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications for the Social Innovation Exhibit and Purpose Pitch can be submitted at andpurpose.world/social-innovation-exhibits.

The forum is explicitly aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — particularly SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), SDG 6 (Clean Water), SDG 7 (Clean Energy), SDG 1 (No Poverty), and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). It also connects to India’s national commitments under the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the government’s Northeast Vision 2047. The forum aims to translate these global frameworks into locally grounded conversations and actionable commitments.

Corporations, foundations, impact investment firms, government bodies, and ecosystem organisations can partner with the forum across multiple tiers — from headline sponsorship and knowledge partnerships to exhibition presence and co-branding. Partnering with the AndPurpose Forum Northeast India offers direct access to a curated audience of decision-makers across the Northeast sustainability and social impact ecosystem, brand visibility across the national AndPurpose community of 1,300+ members, and association with one of India’s most distinctive and underserved regional impact platforms. Contact hello@andpurpose.world or visit andpurpose.world/partner-with-us.

 Registration is open at andpurpose.world. The forum is curated and capacity is intentionally limited to ensure quality of engagement — early registration is strongly encouraged. Ticket details, date, and venue confirmations will be shared via andpurpose.world, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You can also join the AndPurpose WhatsApp community to receive first-access announcements.