Join us at the 10th ILDC
Call for Sponsorship
Support the 10th India Land and Development Conference and become part of a growing platform shaping conversations on land, climate, equity, and development by partnering as a sponsor.
Call For Partnership
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ILDC is built through collaboration, shared learning, and collective action. Join us as a partner in co-creating the 10th edition of India’s leading platform on land governance and development through knowledge, networks, dialogue, and institutional support.
Call For Sessions Proposals
Session proposer(s) will serve as session organizers, responsible for curating content and organising the panel/speakers, on their own, or through selection from abstract submissions, once the panel is accepted. All submissions will be reviewed by the ILDC 2026 Program Committee, and applicants will be notified accordingly. Please use the Session Proposal Format.
Call For Abstracts
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Abstracts may include research papers, case studies, policy and legal analyses and community governance and rights-based experiences
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Abstracts should be original and should not exceed 20% AI-generated or plagiarised content
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Only abstracts need to be submitted at the moment, in about 300 words
Tentative Timeline
12 May - 31 August: Inviting Sessions Proposals (Rolling Decisions)
11 June - 31 August: Inviting Abstracts and Papers (15 September: Notification of Decision)
14 August - 5 November: Registration Open (15 September: Deadline for International Participants Requiring Visa Assistance)
16 November - 20 November: Conference Week, Including Pre-Conference and Post-Conference Events
Conference Brochure Now Available
Looking for a quick, shareable overview of the India Land and Development Conference 2026? Our official conference brochure is now available for download. The brochure brings together everything you need to know about the conference in one place — its vision and objectives, key themes and tracks, formats for participation, and what past editions have achieved. It is designed for easy circulation, as a complement to the conference website.
Bridging The Gap:
From Promise To Pratice
Across land systems today, the language of promise is not in short supply. We have better data, stronger rights frameworks, ambitious climate commitments, and an expanding toolkit of digital and financial solutions. Yet, something quieter persists beneath this progress—a consistent slippage between what is intended and what is experienced.
That gap is not always dramatic. It shows up in small ways: in data that records land but misses the relationships around it; in projects that meet global goals but unsettle local realities; in systems that are technically complete but still hard to access or trust. It appears when participation is invited but not quite enabled, when rights are recognised but not fully realised, when knowledge exists but is not seen.
What becomes clear is that the challenge is less about designing better promises and more about staying with the work of practice. Practice is slower. It is negotiated, uneven, and shaped by context. It asks different questions—about who is visible, who decides, who benefits, and what it takes for systems to actually work in the lives of people.
Bridging the gap, then, is not a single reform or solution. It is a shift in orientation: from building for people to building with them; from completeness on paper to credibility on the ground; from systems that function in parts to those that hold together in practice.
It is in this space, between intent and experience, that the real work of land governance continues.
Cross-cutting Themes
Gender (International Year of the Woman Farmer)
Exploring how land governance systems can better recognise women’s rights, realities, and lived experiences across rural and urban contexts. From tenure security to access and participation, the theme examines what equitable land systems look like in practice.
Pastoralism (International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralism)
Highlighting the importance of mobility, commons, and collective rights in rethinking land governance frameworks. The theme explores how pastoralist livelihoods can be better recognised amidst climate transitions, conservation, and competing land demands.
Localisation and IPLC (Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities)
Focusing on community-led approaches, customary tenure, and meaningful participation in land governance processes. The theme examines how indigenous peoples and local communities can move from consultation to genuine decision-making authority.
Timeline
12 May - 25 Juy: Inviting Sessions Proposals (Rolling Decisions)
11 June - 25 July: Inviting Abstracts and Papers (17 August: Notification of Decision)
1 August - 5 November: Registration Open (1 October: Deadline for International Participants Requiring Visa Assistance)
16 November - 20 November: Conference Week, Including Pre-Conference and Post-Conference Events
12 May - 31 August: Inviting Sessions Proposals (Rolling Decisions)
Tentative Timeline
16 November - 20 November: Conference Week, Including Pre-Conference and Post-Conference Events
14 August - 5 November: Registration Open (15 September: Deadline for International Participants Requiring Visa Assistance)
15 June - 31 August: Inviting Abstracts and Papers (15 September: Notification of Decision)
Our Story in Numbers
Since its inception in 2017 ILDC has grown into a key national and global forum bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders — researchers, policymakers, practitioners, civil society actors, and private sector professionals.
Participants
+3500
Countries
+70
Sessions
+400
Instituions
+200
Our Valued Partners
FAQs
Registration and Accommodation
Registration form is now available at ildc.fillout.com/ildc2026-registration.
Registration closes on 30th September for international participants requiring visa assistance and on 5th November for others.
Registration fee is INR 2500 for all the conference days. Pre and post conference events may have their own registration charges once they are announced.
Most of the participants will have access to double occupancy rooms for INR 1500 per day. Select single occupancy rooms will be made available for INR 3000 a day, as per availability. Please write to us in advance to check availability at indialandconf@gmail.com. Accommodation will be provided at XIM or within a few kilometers of the venue.
Registration covers attendance for all the days of the conference, plus lunch and teas served at the venue.
Abstracts, Papers & Sessions
The ILDC is conducted primarily in English, with case-by-case accommodation for Indian regional languages. While we would like to extend similar support for other foreign languages, our ability to do so is limited by the availability of interpretation services and technical resources. If you wish to present/ organise a session in non-Indian languages, you may be asked to bear the burden of translation.
Abstracts can be submitted through the conference's Call for Abstracts till 31st August. Submissions may include research papers, case studies, policy or legal analyses, and community governance or rights-based experiences, and should be original, in about 300 words. The link to the form can be found here: https://forms.gle/DQ17Tbb3bV7ahgKv6
Yes, through the Call for Session Proposals. Session proposers act as organisers, curating the panel and speakers themselves or selecting from submitted abstracts once the session is accepted.
Decisions on session proposals are made on a rolling basis; abstract/paper submitters will be notified by 15 September.
Travel & Visa
Participants from outside India should check visa requirements well in advance. 30th September is the deadline for registration for those requiring conference visa assistance letters, so early registration is recommended for international delegates.
Yes, you will need to write to us at indialandconf@gmail.com detailing your interest in the conference (whether you’re an attendee or a presenter). You will be requested to share your resume and a scan of your passport, as we will need to write to the Ministry of External Affairs for a clearance for your visa.
ILDC 2026 is at XIM University, Plot No. 12(A), Nijigada, Kurki, Harirajpur – 752050, Odisha, on the southwestern edge of Bhubaneswar, off the Sundarpada–Jatani road.
Please note: this is the XIM University campus at Harirajpur, not the older XIMB campus at Xavier Square in the city. Searching "XIMB" in a cab or maps app will take you to the wrong place. Search "XIM University Harirajpur", or use the campus map at xim.edu.in/map.
By air. Biju Patnaik International Airport (BBI) is the nearest airport, roughly 15 km away — about 35–45 minutes by road. BBI has direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. Prepaid taxis are available at the terminal, and Ola and Uber both operate in Bhubaneswar.
By train. Bhubaneswar Railway Station (BBS) is around 17 km from campus, roughly 40–50 minutes by road, and has the widest choice of services. If your train stops there, Khurda Road Junction (KUR) is considerably closer — about 6 km, or 15 minutes — and many long-distance trains halt there.
By road. Bhubaneswar is on NH-16 and well connected by bus from Kolkata, Visakhapatnam and Raipur. The campus is reached via the Sundarpada–Jatani road.
Getting around locally. App-based cabs are the most reliable option and generally reach the campus without difficulty. Auto-rickshaws are available but negotiate the fare before starting, as the campus is outside the usual city radius.