Dr Debojyoti Das
I have been living in New Malden since 2013 with my wife and two children. I am a lecturer at the University of Arts, Central Saint Martin’s London and at the Black Mountain College where I teach regenerative design, climate justice and alternative development critically engaging with market led modernist development debates. I am committed to working towards bringing about inclusive growth in society, bridging the gender pay gap and keeping the local community at the heart of policy making for a greener and fairer world.
In my student days I lead campaigns for social justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion. I see the next General Election as an opportunity to bring about transformative change in our community and to challenge the business-as-usual attitude upheld by the major political parties in the UK.
We are living in a world where climate change and global warming is real, and the impact is felt at the community level. With my experience and leadership skills, my aim is to raise awareness and tackle these grand challenges by engaging with diverse voices within the local community and show how these issues affect us all. We need to empower local communities to bring about radical behavioural change through responsible consumption to help tackle the climate emergency.
For me addressing global challenge of climate change means acting locally by supporting the Save Our Lands and Rivers (SOLAR) campaign to stop the extraction of water from the Thames at Teddington by Thames Water, and the Save Seething Wells campaign to maintain pressure on the filter bed owners and Kingston Council to make sure this area of Metropolitan Open Land is kept as a resource for both natures to thrive and the local community to enjoy.
I will campaign to ensure that Kingston Council rebuilds the Kingfisher Swimming Pool. We must have at least two leisure centres in the borough and where our children can learn to swim. And I believe that we must support our local high streets and campaign for business rates reform and for incentives for small businesses to tackle their carbon emissions.
Also, I am actively involved with old age day centres such as MILAAP to promote holistic wellbeing for our senior citizens in Kingston who suffer from loneliness, eating disorders and diseases like Alzheimer and diabetes campaign. I am passionate to be part of bringing about change for a more inclusive, fairer, and greener world for us all.