Tom Ainsworth, Shilpi Srivastava, and Shibaji Bose
University of Brighton | Institute of Development Studies | Independent
ANTICIPATE examines how different actors forecast and prepare for co-located hazards under conditions of climatic uncertainty and whether and how these practices can inform practices of anticipation and preparedness. Despite significant advances in climatic sciences that enable seasonal forecasting of extreme events, the co-occurrence of floods and droughts – which we conceptualise as co-located hazards, combined with the underlying systemic complexities of locally situated knowledge create a situation of radical uncertainty.
ANTICIPATE examines how diverse actors can work together to identify and examine changing patterns of how extreme climatic events are understood in locally grounded and appropriate ways. We focus on the Indian state of Gujarat, where extreme variability (floods and droughts) has pushed pastoralists and dryland farmers to the limits of coping. Integrating ethnographic, participatory and creative approaches with atmospheric modelling, ANTICIPATE is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration between academics, disaster specialists and design researchers across the UK and India.
KEYWORDS: radical uncertainty, design research, sustainable design, transcontextual
