Projects
Projects: Summary of Projects by RegionProjects in Region Scotland involving University of Edinburgh : ES/P010008/1 |
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| Reference Number | ES/P010008/1 | |
| Title | Weather Matters: alleviating the consequences of climate change for housing and mobility in the Himalayas | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial) 5%; Not Energy Related 90%; Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts) 5%; |
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| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies) 50%; SOCIAL SCIENCES (Development Studies) 40%; AREA STUDIES (Asian Studies) 10%; |
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| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions) 25%; Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation) 25%; Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour) 25%; Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy) 25%; |
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| Principal Investigator |
Ms H Jerstad No email address given School of Social and Political Science University of Edinburgh |
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| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | ESRC | |
| Start Date | 02 January 2017 | |
| End Date | 01 January 2018 | |
| Duration | 12 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £1 | |
| Industrial Sectors | ||
| Region | Scotland | |
| Programme | Global Challenges Research Fund | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Ms H Jerstad , School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh (100.000%) |
| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | With this fellowship I aim to build on the research I have undertaken on climate change in the Indian Himalayas in order to minimise its negative consequences, through mitigation efforts and adjusting practices to fit better with the trajectory of change. I plan to draw on two of the central issues that came out of my PhD research: the widespread new cement houses that are inefficient in regulating temperature and therefore a health risk (as shown by Wilkinson et al 2001 on excess winter deaths due to poor housing), which also emit high levels of CO2 and rain-related landslides that obstruct labour and other mobility. Research on climate change in the social sciences faces a twofold challenge. Firstly because climate change is 'everything change' (Klein 2014), affecting health (Baer and Singer 2009), resource use (Shove 2003), energy (Hornborg 2008) and housing (Harkness et al 2015). Secondly, although the 5th IPCC report brought a focus on climate change in India and the Himalayan region, the Energy Conservation Building Code, part of the larger strategy for emissions reduction outlined in India's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution from 2015 covers commercial but not domestic buildings, and the use of low-energy materials is optional in this code.This fellowship aims to deal with both these problems. The issues of cement construction and landslides are clear cases where climate change is affecting economic development and welfare, and where the potential for practical changes can impact on wellbeing and reduce emissions across the subcontinent. I want to reframe climate change debates to focus on housing and landslides by publishing in policy-relevant venues, organising workshops with academics and other stakeholders and working with those already in these fields to maximise their impact on practice. Visits to two organisations with histories of leveraging the interface between science and policy will allow me to build my skills and create impact in India and Nepal during this fellowship. In the placement with the Climate Change division of The Energy and Resources Institute: Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development (TERI) I will be based in Delhi, where I will run a workshop on cement housing with scholars at Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, policymakers who are concerned with emissions reduction (including AAP politicians), architects, engineers and other stakeholders. Raising awareness for and also drawing from this workshop I intend to co-publish with Indian scholars in policy-relevant forums and feed in to policy discussions on housing in the most relevant local way, as well as discussions within the building planning arena through publishing in news outlets that they read (see impact section). My overall aim here is to make non-cement building more feasible in the minds of decision-makers in India. With the internship with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),an intergovernmental organisation that works in all the countries in the Hindukush Himalayan region, I would like to build a relationship with this well-reputed organisation which has a strong history of high quality research and active policy influence. I intend to think and write with them about how landslides are changing with climate change, and the effects this is having on the structure of the economy because of the implications for migration for work (as well as for trade and to access health and education). There will be opportunities to present my work and also in ICIMOD publications, which are considered authoritative in policy and practice. Through the workshop I plan to organise with ICIMOD along similar lines to that in Delhi, I will have the opportunity to engage with several institutions who work in the field of climate change in the region. Benefits from this work will be relevant across the Himalayas, juxtaposing the costs of landslides with the benefits of the mixed economy. | |
| Abstract | People in countries like India and Nepal across the Global South are dealing with the consequences of climate change in the shape of disasters and of gradual shifting in weather patterns over time. These changes cross-cut other changes: new roads, new building materials, labour markets, monetisation of the economy - all creating new uncertainties. How, then, to alleviate these issues? As Longhurst, Chambers and Swift (1986) argued, the problematic disconnect between development and policy thinking and what happens 'out there' on the ground is, in part, due to seasonal and weather factors. The monsoon literally obstructs movement. Seasons, particularly with climate change, do not fit the appropriate bureaucratic structures. This means weather-related issues such as unsuitable housing and rain-related landslides are at risk of being ignored. This project looks at uncomfortable and high-emission domestic cement structures alongside rain-related landslides and the effects of these on labour migration. It will make important contributions to reducing emissions from new builds in India and rethinking Himalayan work patterns in the light of monsoon landslides.The use of cement in the built environment carries a cost of high CO2 emissions (Griffin 1987), and of discomfort in the heat and in cold temperatures, with potential health risks and added energy demands to regulate the indoor climate. At the same time the lure of 'modernity' means cement construction is widespread in South Asia (as it is globally). With this fellowship, I will work towards alleviating the negative effects of this material through working with colleagues in India to raise awareness of the unhelpful qualities of cement and promote other building materials.Migratory patterns in the Himalayas mean that for many villages family members are elsewhere, earning wages that they feed back into the household economy. These and the goods this money buys as well as government services such as healthcare and education depend on transport into and out of the hills. Changing rainfall, in winter as well as during the monsoon, threaten these systems by causing landslides that block the road. The proposed project will build up the research community in and between India, Nepal and the UK through networking and the Weather Matters online hub. It will build networks beyond academia through linking up people working on climate-change related topics such as landslides and housing at ICIMOD, TERI, JNU and beyond.The aim of this project is to engage constructively with policymakers on the impact of cement construction on wider welfare, quality of life and economic development in the region and ultimately to reduce the use of cement in construction in India, on the grounds of emissions and discomfort, energy costs and health risk. In addition, I plan to galvanise the conversation about patterns of employment in the Himalayas in the light of climate-change exacerbated landslides that block mountain roads. This should contribute to government policy on the infrastructures that facilitate employment and habitation patterns | |
| Data | No related datasets |
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| Projects | No related projects |
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| Publications | No related publications |
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| Added to Database | 02/01/18 | |
