SOCIALLY JUST AND ADAPTIVE COMMUNITY SPACES
SOCIALLY JUST AND ADAPTIVE COMMUNITY SPACES
DADENGGRE AND JENGJAL VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT, MEGHALAYA
ISSUES
RESILIENCE | GOVERNANCE
KEY ASPECTS
RESEARCH | PLANNING
COMMUNITY COMMONS AS ADAPTIVE SPACES
As climate change induced risks intersect with unprecedented urbanisation, the implications on livelihoods and health of urban poor in the Global South are immense. Interventions target either the household and or the state/city-region. While the former is insufficient to engage with externalities of livelihoods and resource access, the latter is too abstract an arena for action. “Community Commons” or shared spaces within settlements constitute critical spaces to evolve resilience strategies that can attenuate socio-spatial deprivations of the urban poor. The commons experience multiple intersecting risks. By extension, these spaces also embody the potential to address these risks. The research attempts to comprehend the myriad ways in which these spaces accommodate individual and community living to position these as critical elements of adaptation and mitigation. Check out the highlights of this research in the ArcGIS StoryMaps below. https://arcg.is/0f1fSz
R:House frontage being used for cooking and storing domestic paraphernalia. Location: Goller Oni Slum in Dharwad, Karnataka
The research employs a co-creation process. Bringing together CBOs, researchers, and policy and planning professionals it foregrounds ground-up perspectives, informing the formal top-down climate action. The research outlines geographically and socio-culturally contextual adaptation / mitigation strategies to strengthen the commons as social, economic, and environmental spaces. The case-studies represent varying geographic and cultural contexts such as the urban poor settlements in Dharwad, Ranchi, and Bengaluru in the Indian context, Moravia (Colombia), and settlements in South Africa. The project is supported by the ARA Micro-grants (Adaptation Research Alliance) and our partners are Plan Adapt (South Africa), URBAM (Colombia), and Mahila Housing Trust (India).
ISSUES
RESILIENCE | GOVERNANCE
KEY ASPECTS
RESEARCH | PLANNING
COMMUNITY COMMONS AS ADAPTIVE SPACES
The research explored the diverse ways in which Community Commons—shared spaces within settlements—supported both individual and community living, positioning them as critical elements of climate adaptation and mitigation. The study employed a co-creation process, bringing together Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), researchers, and policy and planning professionals to integrate ground-up perspectives into formal, top-down climate action.
The research outlined geographically and socio-culturally contextual adaptation and mitigation strategies to strengthen commons as social, economic, and environmental spaces.
The case studies covered diverse geographic and cultural contexts, including urban poor settlements in Dharwad, Ranchi, and Bengaluru (India), Moravia (Colombia), and settlements in South Africa.
The project was supported by the ARA Micro-grants (Adaptation Research Alliance) and carried out in partnership with Plan Adapt (South Africa), URBAM (Colombia), and Mahila Housing Trust (India).
Check out the highlights of the research in this ArcGIS Story Maps - Socially Just and Adaptive Community Spaces
R:House frontage being used for cooking and storing domestic paraphernalia. Location: Goller Oni Slum in Dharwad, Karnataka
ISSUES
GOVERNANCE | DEVELOPMENT
KEY ASPECTS
RESEARCH | DESIGN
an alternative development paradigm rooted in community needs
The project studied the primary development opportunities in the Lok Sabha constituency of Dadenggre and Jengjal, covering Dadenggre and Rongram blocks. The region faced significant development challenges, including inadequate healthcare facilities, limited livelihood opportunities, weak trade connections, and insufficient access to basic services such as water. Development responses had largely been top-down and piecemeal, addressing issues in isolation from their broader context, resulting in fragmented projects that rarely met local needs holistically.
INDE proposed an alternative development paradigm rooted in community needs while aligning with ongoing and proposed top-down policies and programs for the region. This approach was embedded in the socio-cultural everyday practices of the local population.
After establishing a baseline understanding of the constituency, with a focus on Dadenggre and Jengjal, INDE developed multiple proposals that aimed to foster development without compromising the region’s ecology.