A webinar organized by the TAPESTRY project.
16 July 2020
11:00 UTC – 12:00 UK
16:30 India – 17:00 Bangladesh

The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted almost all aspects of life in India and Bangladesh. Apart from the immediate impacts on victims of the virus, the lockdowns imposed by governments have affected the mobility, income, food security, and livelihoods of millions.

For people in so-called ‘marginal’ environments, in coastal and dryland areas, Covid-19 adds to a set of existing uncertainties and challenges – climate and other environmental changes, disasters such as cyclones, industrialisation, urban and infrastructure projects, restrictions or loss of natural resources or grazing rights, changes in freedom of movement, technological innovation and fluctuations in markets. Recent weather events such as Cyclone Amphan have compounded the problems faced in some regions.

People in these areas are not passive recipients of unpredictable change. They respond by building alliances to enhance their agency and transform the conditions under which they can flourish. These alliances are often driven from the grassroots but can benefit from collaboration and understanding on the part of allies in NGOs, government, research and other networks.

This webinar explores the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for bottom-up transformations to sustainability in India and Bangladesh. We will draw on responses in Kachchh, the Sundarbans delta (India and Bangladesh) and Mumbai, based on the current research in the TAPESTRY project.

Speakers

• D.Parthasarathy, IIT Bombay / TAPESTRY project
• Seema Kulkarni, Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM) / Transformations to Groundwater Sustainability project
• Amitava Roy, Lokamata Rani Rashmoni Mission, Sundarbans
• Saleemul Huq, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Bangladesh
• Sandeep Virmani, Hunnarshala Foundation
• Discussant: Mihir Bhatt, All-India Disaster Mitigation Institute / TAPESTRY
• Chair: Lyla Mehta, Institute of Development Studies /Norwegian University of Life Sciences / TAPESTRY

Register a place: bit.ly/covidtransformations