Transformation is by nature
multidisciplinary; by definition it combines past with future in the present by
operating simultaneously on different systems and concepts. Insurance, markets,
and private sector are some of the ingredients that can be leveraged by the
humanitarian system to transform cities. We have more data than we have ever
had, which gives us an opportunity to compare cities, communities, periods and
stages of recovery to make transformation a reality.
Can cutting edge innovations that integrate disaster risk
reduction with climate change adaptation transform our views on risk from the
standpoint of individuals, institutions and investments that shape resilience?
AIDMI's two decades
of work in South Asia has shown that "Uncertainty" is an opportunity
for transformation. Dr. Lyla Mehta of IDS, drawing from her ongoing field work
on Climate Change, Uncertainty and Transformation in the desert of Kutch and
delta areas of Sunderbans, has often mentioned that transformation is a bottom
up process where marginal voices, more specifically poor women's voices, are
central. This issue also highlights an institutional effort in the desert of
Kutch to transform the lives of the locals by the Gujarat Institute of Desert
Ecology (GUIDE), reported by Dr. V. Vijay Kumar and Dr. Anjan Kumar Prusty.
Risk is never
insular, it is always compounded by underlying vulnerabilities, which if not
addressed in time can precipitate into disasters. AIDMI has found this reality
in over 23 evaluations and reviews of risk and resilience projects in South
Asia. Dr. Lars Otto of IDS, who is also working on the Climate Change,
Uncertainty and Transformation project, opines that a way to approach
transformation is through landscape analysis which is a first step towards
transformation.
Dr. Aliza Pradhan and
Dr. R.V. Bhavani from Chennai share M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation's
(MSSRF) work that shows that the risks faced in agriculture are linked with the
risks faced in coastal areas. Agriculture and farmers are a key to any coastal
transformation towards resilience. Dr. Rajib Prakash Baruah from Assam State
Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Guwahati, shares a way to approach the
landscape of risk: mock drills. Such drills address a wide range of risks and
measure the capacity of a system to respond to their impact.
Through AIDMI's work
in over 56 cities it has been found that any transformation of a city is
multidisciplinary by its very nature. Cities are many Things, many places,
spread across different times. All versions of the city co-exist in
collaboration as well as in conflict. Dr. Parthasarthy of IIT, in his work on
Climate Change, Uncertainty and Transformation in coastal areas around Mumbai
often argues that livelihoods are central to making transformation benefit the
economy, ecology, and cities.
Dr. Nasir Javed,
shares what it takes to transform cities and their livability across Pakistan.
Karachi is picking up heatwave planning from cities in India, but in the process
Karachi is transforming both, the way city is planned and the way risk is
perceived in such planning. Yolande Wright of DFID UK at a panel on Future of
Urban Humanitarian Response at Royal Institute of British Architects said in
June 2017.
Shri Kamal Kishore,
Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India, in his preface to
South Asia Disaster Report 2016 of DuryogNivaran underlines Building Back
Batter (BBB) as a transformative idea to be utilized for sustainable recovery
and reconstruction. BhaveshSodagar from Mandvi shares with us the BBB in Kutch
after 2001 earthquake in a candid manner: what changed, what did not, and what
can still change to make Kutch resilient.
Shri Ramesh of
Ministry of Earth Science has repeatedly indicated to look at transformative
processes taking place in the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in terms
of it reaching out to its data users more directly, either during droughts or
floods or heat waves. Dr. M. Mohapatra, IMD details some of these achievements,
and also the efforts that went into them. Peter Walton of Oxford University
warns us that institutions do not transform if there is no widespread awareness
of risk among all stakeholders. The higher the degree of awareness and
articulation of risk among the stakeholders, the more likely is the
institutional transformation.
So how do we know if
transformation is taking place? Or at least we are in the direction of moving
towards transformation? One, when we listen to local and bottom up voices with
care and respect; two, in cities, when we focus on livelihoods and jobs for the
majority of its people; three, when established institutions reach out to its
primary stakeholders; and four, when we do not look at the entire landscape of
risk instead of lone parts.
.
Where will the
sustained and effective push for such transformation come from? It will come
from the thousands of innovations spawned by an empowered citizenry which has
achieved access to basic services and from a symbiotic growth of the economy
and ecology.
- Mihir R. Bhatt
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