Communicating Climate Change and its Impact to Dhaka’s Urban Poor – Grassroot Workshops for Adults and Children
Risks and Conflicts: Local Responses to Natural Disasters
ISBN: 978-1-78190-820-4, eISBN: 978-1-78190-821-1
Publication date: 13 August 2014
Abstract
Bangladesh’s urban poor face numerous obstacles, especially during times of disastrous natural events. The effects of global warming will pose new threats for them as frequencies and magnitudes of natural hazards are likely to increase. Thus, current and formerly successful coping and adaptation strategies will be challenged in the future. The urban poor need to be informed and empowered so that they can develop their own strategies in response to the expected local effects of climate change. Our research aims at grassroot workshops as a means of communication with slum dwellers in Dhaka which not only convey possible climate change impact on livelihoods but also create relevance for the individuals and options for action. More than 20 workshops including men, women, and children have been conducted and analysed. The final workshop design incorporates a mix of participatory and input-oriented elements in order to overcome the problem of psychological distance.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the German Research Foundation for the financial support received for our research project “Natural hazards and climate change in Dhaka: future trends, social adaptation and informal dynamics” within the Priority Programme 1233 ‘‘Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change’’. Furthermore, the authors are grateful to Tibor Aßheuer who carried out the first stage of empirical research in the project. The authors also thank Clemens Simmer and Insa Thiele-Eich (University of Bonn) and AZM Shoeb and Raquib Ahmed (University of Rajshahi) for their kind cooperation. Finally, the fieldwork would not have been possible without the deep commitment of the interpreters, Nishat Jahan Jyoti, Anita Shafiq, and Laila Nur Shemonto, German students Magdalena Oppitz and Nils Jahn, and the kind support of Glory Future Social Friendship (Dhaka), Ärzte für die Dritte Welt (Frankfurt), Psychologen über Grenzen (Potsdam), and essentially the patience, hospitality, trust, and knowledge of Dhaka’s slum dwellers.
Citation
Salingré, A. and Braun, B. (2014), "Communicating Climate Change and its Impact to Dhaka’s Urban Poor – Grassroot Workshops for Adults and Children", Risks and Conflicts: Local Responses to Natural Disasters (Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 14), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 251-278. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7262(2013)0000014017
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited