Note: This is a partner project and IRIS members have been highlighted below.
Living with climate change: mapping experience and adaptation in the global south and north
2013
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Lead Investigator: Michaela Hynie
Co-Applicants: Dawn Bazely, Donald Floyd, Marcia Rioux, Prateep Nayak
Collaborators: Aditya Bastola, Nicole Klenk, Patricia Perkins, Surya Dhungel
Sponsors: S.M. Sehgal Foundation, University of New Brunswick, University of Waterloo, Women in Environment, York University
Funding: $197,171.00
This project is a partnership that includes three Canadian institutions (York University, University of New Brunswick, and University of Waterloo) and two community non-governmental research organizations in South Asia, S. M. Sehgal Foundation also known as Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD), India and Women and Environment—Nepal (Nepal). Our goal is to generate knowledge of how those directly affected by extreme social and environmental changes understand these changes, and how this understanding shapes their subsequent adaptation strategies. In particular, we are interested in how different social, environmental and policy contexts affect adaptation strategies, so as to inform policies that can support successful and equitable local adaptations to environmental changes, adaptation strategies that are integrated and coordinated with global strategies and needs.
Given the global nature of climate change, successful adaptation demands the sharing of information across regions and nations. In this project, we are comparing and contrasting how individuals and communities in different cultures and nations adapt to change as a function of social, policy and environmental contexts, but also comparing within communities, as a function of social variables such as gender, disability and caste/social class. Our partnership brings all our separate networks together into one umbrella group that will work together to generate new knowledge, and also collect and share information about best practices for supportive and pro-people local policies. Ultimately, we intend to build an expanding forum for ongoing collaboration around research into linking local knowledge and adaptation to policy and community development to ensure that individual and community adaptations produce the best outcomes for all community members.
