The Dehradun Heritage Project begun as a collaboration between the Dehradun Hub of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, to encourage participation of youth in local issues and Alaya Design Studio, a local design led social enterprise. It is envisaged as a Public Participation project to document the old buildings, architectural styles and socio cultural heritage of the city of Dehradun before they disappear from the city landscape due to factors such as rapid urbanization and real estate expansion in the valley. The idea is to inspire local citizens of Dehradun to conserve, preserve, and promote awareness and appreciation of their unique heritage, as well as to perhaps be able to influence relevant Urban Planning departments of the state government to build infrastructure with a reflection of local culture.

The project team is inviting local citizens and visitors to send their photographs of local buildings that they value as part of the city's heritage, along with a little bit of information about them. Due credit will be given to the photographer/s. The team is looking forward to collaborating with like-minded organizations, volunteers, educational institutions, corporates etc. on increasing awareness of these issues among the youth. The project team also hopes that they are able to interest local architecture colleges to initiate Dehradun based architectural conservation projects with their students and create platforms for the youth to challenge current notions of PWD style urban planning with alternative visions of their future city.