Global Climate Change Week Workshops
On October 17th and 18th, 2022, for Global Climate Change Week — Pinky Chandran and I (Amanda Gann) hosted four collaborative workshops/events at Azim Premji University in partnership with Hasiru Dala, Bangalore Sustainability Forum, and Citizen Matters. We invited speakers from various backgrounds to share their perspectives on water in Bengaluru from personal stories of flood experiences to design/planning solutions, and more. Below you will find more information on the events.
Location
Azim Premji University
Burugunte Village, Survey No 66,
Bikkanahalli Main Rd, Sarjapura,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 562125
DAY ONE
October 17, 2022 — Azim Premji University
~ 01 ~
Workshop 11 am to 12.30 pm | SH1
Hasiru Dala: Building Climate Leaders in Informal Settlements
Description:
How do you address the most vulnerable first, in building climate resilience in informal settlements? How can communities drive climate resilience, as active participants in driving pro-poor climate action? Resilience building requires a multi-pronged approach, where residents can plan, design, and implement actions. This workshop seeks to reflect on the ongoing interventions at waste picker communities in Bengaluru and discuss ways forward in amplifying the need to build climate leaders. The workshop will discuss the following themes:
How can we use construction and demolition waste to upgrade and design informal settlements?
The need to identify flood-affected colonies and settlements and plan community interventions such as developing recharge pits and stormwater drains, designing makeshift houses, that are temporal and can be dismantled in case of a disaster
The need to map rehabilitation centres, allotted by the government for disaster management?
Capacity building of local communities to monitor forecasts and prepare in times of floods
How can roofing in informal settlements be more heat resistant?
Participants
Jayabai, Wastepicker: Use of repurposed material in building houses
Srinivas, Biome: Planning interventions in flood-affected communities
Lalitha, Hair picker: Experiences of living with floods in Konapa Agrahara
Akbar and Nalini Shekar: Hasiru Dala’s interventions
~ 02 ~
2:00 - 4:00pm | SH1
Digital Exhibition and Poetry Performance: ‘As the Drain Goes’
Leader: Pinky Chandran
Collaborators: Amanda Gann, Fulbright/APU + BSF+ CM
Moderator: Shreya Krishnan
Description:
As the Drain Goes is a photo-poetry project that looks at the Koramangala Valley pathway in Bengaluru (from Majestic to Bellandur lake), making sense of our relationship with drains.
The poems in the series are an invitation to follow the drains and reflect on the transitions in the city. Using a diverse lens of shared history, the poems also trace the dilemmas and conflicts, in planning the city, and the tradeoffs that one makes with land as a precious commodity, with little or no care for the adversities. The poems also seek to highlight the different dimensions of differentiation and patterns of inequalities and try to make sense of water in the landscape and consider the possibilities of reimagining storm water drains in the city.
The thematic categorisation of the poems include:
Historical
Romance, Nostalgia
Seeing the City and the Transitions
Reconnecting People and Water
DAY TWO
October 18, 2022 — Azim Premji University
~ 03 ~
11:30 am - 1 pm | Hinge at APU
Collaborative Art Piece: Collective Water
Collaborators: Simmy Ganeriwala
Join us as we co-create a piece of art: Write a story, Paint, Sketch, Play Music, or Sing. Art supplies will be provided.
~ 04 ~
2:00pm-5:00pm | SH2
Workshop | Collective Water: Community Action Around Water
With the increasing uncertainty of the challenges our cities and their citizens are set to face in the coming decade, the role of citizen collaboration and grassroots-level efforts are essential to building resiliency. Bengaluru is internationally known for its citizen engagement around lake restoration and has exemplified the power of collaboration and neighborhood-scale management practices. Utilising this framework, this workshop invites community members from the Dakshina Pinakini River Basin (including Hebbal Valley, KC Valley, and the Chinnar Valley) to come together to discuss challenges from micro to macro including surface and groundwater allocation and management, pollution, sustainable agricultural practices, and more. This workshop can establish a framework and a platform for knowledge exchange and project proposals. Azim Premji University in its new location seeks to engage with the local communities to support the adaptation and building of resiliency in the face of present and future economic and climate challenges.
Participants
Facilitator: Amanda Gann, Fulbright-Nehru U.S. Student Researcher
Co-facilitator: Pinky Chandran, Hasiru Dala
Panelists: Sahil Mathew, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (C-STEP)
Arvind Lakshmisha, Azim Premji University
Kartik H, Visvesvaraya Technological University
Akbar Allahbakash, Hasiru Dala
Anchor: Meera K
Collaborators
BSF + CM + HD
Follow us on social media:
Amanda Gann
@fluxscapes on Instagram — @amanda_gann on Twitter
Pinky Chandran
@pinky.chandran on Instagram — @pinkychandran on Twitter
What is GCCW?
Global Climate Change Week (GCCW – 13th – 18th October 2022), initiated by a group of Australia-based academics in 2014, aims to encourage academic communities across all disciplines and countries to engage with each other, their communities, and policymakers, on climate action and necessary solutions. Held annually in October, GCCW provides an open-ended platform for raising awareness, inspiring behaviour change, and driving political transformation in relation to climate policy.
What is the plan for GCCW 2022?
Azim Premji University, with support from Initiative for Climate Action will be hosting sessions (more details below) at the Azim Premji University Campus that speak to the themes of:
Art: inspiring participants to shift hearts and minds, and facilitate larger imaginations of how they engage in study and work.
Capacities: sharing and using a diversity of tools and methodologies to understand contextual issues and build resiliency.
Communities: listening to diverse voices and platform the important work happening in decentralised communities.