For background on this 3-part series, see the introductory post “Many Cool Heads for a Hot and Unequal World: Reflections on adaptation research and the social sciences“ which reflects on a Global Environmental Change editorial by Arun Agrawal and others. Here is Part 2; Part 3; Conclusion. “we need to build databases, produce case studies,Continue reading “Part 1: Adaptation science has a big data, disparate theory problem”
Tag Archives: Climate change
Many cool heads for a hot and unequal world: reflections on adaptation research and the social sciences
In a 2012 editorial in Global Environmental Change “Cool heads for a hot world – Social sciences under a changing sky“, Arun Agrawal, Maria Lemos, Ben Orlove, and Jesse Ribot delineated three spaces for the social sciences to contribute to climate change research and action (theorise, problematize, inform policy). The year they wrote this, IContinue reading “Many cool heads for a hot and unequal world: reflections on adaptation research and the social sciences”
Bigfoot: On being a climate scientist that flies
Flying around the globe to attend climate change conferences that discuss the importance of flying less has got to be one of the most ironical parts of my job. On the one hand, the research world is moving towards being more connected. We’re in an age of multi-country studies and collaborative, international research teams; North-SouthContinue reading “Bigfoot: On being a climate scientist that flies”
New paper: Risks and responses in India’s drylands
The latest World Bank Report on climate change in South Asia proclaims “South Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change. And it’s getting worse”. There is an ever-increasing body of research showing that India is facing and will continue to face rising temperatures, more erratic rainfall, and more severe drought-like conditions. The implications of theseContinue reading “New paper: Risks and responses in India’s drylands”
Adaptation pathways: two recent papers and implications for maladaptation
In the climate change adaptation literature, pathways thinking seems to be cropping up everywhere. A quick search I did for papers published 2014 onwards threw up 25 distinct case studies engaging with adaptation pathways-speak, with examples ranging from \’priming\’ multiple stakeholders to find transformational solutions to climatic risks in Indonesia (Butler et al., 2016), toContinue reading “Adaptation pathways: two recent papers and implications for maladaptation”
Envisioning with empathy: Reflections on the Transformative Scenario Planning Methodology
Last month, my team organised and participated in a training workshop on a methodology called Transformative Scenario Planning (TSP). Aimed at envisioning and co-creating futures in situations that are seemingly stuck, cannot be resolved by one/few actors, and are complex and conflict-ridden, the TSP has been used across the globe from post-apartheid South Africa to democraticContinue reading “Envisioning with empathy: Reflections on the Transformative Scenario Planning Methodology”
What\’s the difference between adaptation and development?
How do we differentiate between adaptation and development? Are development projects being re-branded to show that they are meeting climate change goals in a bid to attract funds? Or is adaptation just the latest fad; nothing more than development with a climate change hat on? Drip irrigation is ubiquitous in water-scarce Kolar. Photo by ChandniContinue reading “What\’s the difference between adaptation and development?”
Link Pack #9: Livelihoods and farming
Over the past seven years, I have been working in and researching rural areas. I have helped build water storage tanks, and sown medicinal plants with women\’s Self Help Groups in Himachal Pradesh. I have trained farmers in Arunachal to expand their use of wetlands to ecotourism, and examined why young Rajasthani men are openingContinue reading “Link Pack #9: Livelihoods and farming”
Farming and the license to dream (notes from the CBA9 conference)
I am in Africa. After listening to stories of my mother catching a colourful fish in the River Kafue and of my grandfather driving from Nairobi to Lusaka in the 70s, it is finally my chance to see this inspiring, beautiful, and complex continent. I am in Nairobi at the 9th International Conference on Community-Continue reading “Farming and the license to dream (notes from the CBA9 conference)”
Interview | CARIAA Young Researchers
Filling up a monitoring form for a medicinal plant nursery in Keylong, Himachal Pradesh (2008). Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) is an IDRC and DFID funded project working on building resilience of vulnerable populations in vulnerability hotspots. As part of their series on young researchers working on climate change issues, I wasContinue reading “Interview | CARIAA Young Researchers”
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