Transformation as Praxis: Exploring Socially Just and Transdisciplinary Pathways to Sustainability in Marginal Environments (TAPESTRY)

Prosjektet har utviklet en ny måte å tilnærme seg transformasjon på, ved å konseptualisere deg som nedenfra-og-opp-drevet praskis. Vi har studet hvordna potensielt transformative endringer utspiller seg i tre områder I India, deltaet Sundarbans, tørrlandsområdet Kutch og storbyen Mumbai. Den Forskningsråd-fiansierte delen av prosjektet har konsentrert seg om Sundarbans og Mubmai. I Sundarbans har vi kartlagt, veld hjelp av deltagende metoder som PhotoVoice, hvodan lokalbefolkningen erfarer og responderer på klimarelaterte usikkerheter. Gjennom å etablere allianser mellom lokalbefolkningen, NGOer, NGOer, forskere og forvaltning for å finne alternative måter å drive jordbruk på og høste ressurser på som er er bedre tilpasset klimaendringene. I Mumbai har vi først og fremst jobbet med de lokale fiskerne - Kolis - og hvordan de håndterer utfordringene fra klimaendringer, forurensning og de negative effektene av storskala infrastrukturprosjekter som the Coastal Road. Her også konsentrerte vi oss om å danne allianser r, mellom fiskerne, forskere, NGOer og aktivister for å styrke fiskernes mulighet til å forme egne levekårsmuligheter og bidra aktivt inn i pågående planleggingsprosesser. Særlig viktig var fiskernes lokalkunnskap om kystøkologien og mangroveskogene, ikke bare for deres eget livsopphold, men for byen som helhet. Tapestry er et internasjonalt og tverrfaglig prosjekt, med deltagelse fra Storbritannia, India, Japan og Norge. Prosjektet ledes av: Prof. L. Mehta, Institute of Development Studies, UK; Prof. D. Parthasarathy, Indian Institute of Technology, India; Dr. S. Movik, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, Norge, Prof. Nobu Ohte, Kyoto University, Japan.

Through the creation of hybrid alliances, we succeeded in rolling out initiatives across the patches that both gave agency to local people and also facilitated and contributed to bottom-up processes of transformation. We challenged received wisdom regarding techno-centric development projects and highlighted the need to combine plural knowledge and build hybrid alliances for achieving socially just transformation. Local communities gained the confidence to speak in front of authorities about their local ecological knowledges and this has also enhanced their voice and agency and confidence in their livelihood options. In the Sundarbans, transboundary dialogues were well received by a range of stakeholders and we generated demand for future cooperation on climate change and loss and damage. In Mumbai, local agency and capacity were enhanced through the deliberative process of building net filters. The exhibitions, visual research, master plan surveys, stakeholder interviews, and digging into indigenous knowledge helped develop alternative framings and technical interventions for addressing livelihood issues and pollution problems. The visual methods and creative work lifted the hidden voices (of women, youth and children who are often left out) and marginalised practices to the forefront of the transformative imaginaries. Overall, the project functioned as a catalyst for collaboration and creativity across institutional and disciplinary boundaries, as well as amplifying the voices of the marginalised An important element of the project was creating spaces for bringing together diverse actors that are often not interacting, to foster greater understanding and communication about what can comprise transformative change. The regular Roundtables that were organised by the project resulted in a greater awareness among those involved – bureaucrats, academics, civil society representatives, local community representatives – of the diverse experiences and understandings of climate change-related uncertainty and what is required to bring about transformative change, and also created a greater sensitivity towards different disciplinary perspectives.

The objective of TAPESTRY is to examine how transformation may arise from below in marginal environments with high levels of uncertainty. Climate change uncertainties, especially at the local level, constitute one of the main challenges to the sustainability of societies and ecosystems, calling for systemic transformative changes. While uncertainty can exacerbate anxieties about the future, it can also provide an opportunity to create transformation and deep structural change. TAPESTRY focuses on three patches of transformation in India and Bangladesh - vulnerable coastal areas of Mumbai, the Sundarbans and Kutch - where hybrid alliances and innovative practices are reimagining sustainable development and inspiring societal transformation. TAPESTRY is organised in a transnational and transdisciplinary consortium across the UK, India, Bangladesh, Norway and Japan. Its conceptual innovation lies in studying transformation as praxis, by putting bottom-up change and the agency of marginalised people at the centre and by analysing how co-produced transformations can be scaled up and out. The project is particularly relevant to theme 1 and 3 of the call, i.e. governance, wellbeing, quality of life, identity and values in relation to transformations to sustainability. All these lie at the heart of the welfare and development challenges faced by India (a lower middle income country) and Bangladesh (least developed country). The project's outcomes and impact will inform processes to improve the quality of life of marginalised people affected by climate change related uncertainties, build action and capacity amongst all partners whilst generating evidence of how bottom-up transformation can take place in marginal environments