Building a film database to support decision-making for energy infrastructure in low income housing in India and South Africa

The Research Network addresses the key development challenges of clean and affordable energy (SDG7), sustainable cities (SDG11) and gender equality (SDG5). The project builds on the findings of our three interdisciplinary GCRF projects in India and South Africa, addresses the gap identified in these projects (poor communication between policy makers and the local community and lack of women's participation in energy policy) and aims to maximise their impact.

Energy infrastructure affects women in particular as they are at home more than men, carry out most household practices and are extremely dependant of social networks. In developing countries, women's traditional role at home leads to them having far more influence than men on domestic energy consumption but women's involvement in UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 (energy) and 11 (safe, resilient and sustainable human settlements) remains an under-researched area, especially in the urban context. Our previous research has revealed policy makers' total lack of understanding of women's daily realities in low income settlements in India and South Africa: new energy and housing infrastructure has led to households practices moving from outdoors to indoors, energy intense lifestyle and debt.

Predicting the future of energy demand lies in understanding the everyday life that sources domestic energy consumption. Yet approaches to effectively capture the everyday life in domestic environments are a blind spot in current energy research. The challenges are considerable and call for a radical new approach. Film is an art of recording that is always imbued with a pre-existing reality associated with a social and physical context within given cultural, political and environmental circumstances. Cinema is an unused vehicle to study the unravelling of domesticity within dwellings that are notoriously difficult to access given the sociocultural context. The Research Network explores how cinematic analysis and short documentary films could provide crucial new data concerning womens' daily practices and energy use. This could allow us to make recommendations that could result in the creation of more inclusive, affordable and clean energy infrastructure.

This Research Network will address this development challenge specifically by: a) analyzing our existing CineSpaceMuse database on everyday household practices in Indian and African cinema; b) making a series of short documentary films on location in Mumbai and Cape Town; and c) testing the approach on policy makers in a series of workshops in Mumbai, Cape Town and Cambridge. The international collaborators (Indian Institute of Technology/IITB, City of Cape Town, Development Action Group/DAG, Doctors For You/DFU) have been in key role on developing this proposal and identifying development challenges in the field. Their participation in crucial in the workshops, the analysis and dissemination.

The project uses films in two ways. First, by adopting the methodology and the software developed for the AHRC CineMuseSpace project [https://www.cinemusespace.arct.cam.ac.uk]. This part of the study will directly build on our CineGenus project [https://www.cinemusespace.arct.cam.ac.uk/news/cinegenus]. Second, PI and Co-I will make short documentary films (each 2-5min) on location in low income housing in Mumbai and Cape Town that pin down the occupants' daily practices, which interact with energy, mainly electricity. The novelty lies in using the fiction films' data as a reflective tool to map energy consumption patterns which are in sync with daily lives. Short film database, policy briefing and design guidelines for energy infrastructure in low income housing will be written together with all project partners and discussed in the workshops.

1. Academia:

- In addition to two papers in international peer-reviewed journals (one in physical and social sciences journal such as Energy Research & Social Science and one in journal representing Humanities such as Journal of Film and Media Studies), PI and Co-I will present the Research Network findings in international scientific conferences in the field (e.g. BEHAVE, SBE) and their existing professional networks (e.g. CineMuseSpace network).

- PI and Co-I are active in graduate teaching and material collected during the project and on the new methods will be used to teach research students in the participating institutions (IITB and MPhil course Architecture and Film Studies at Cambridge). Teaching material will be offered to graduate students also via the Network website. Cambridge and IITB workshops will include a special session for early career researchers and graduate studies.

- This project will develop equitable international academic, policy and community partnerships between India, South Africa and emerging economy in Ethiopia and in the UK. It will also act as a pilot study to test ideas and the methodology for further collaboration between the Research Network partners, making partnership building links with colleagues in film studies in South Africa and India.

2. Policy-makers, NGOs and building professionals (developers and designers of low-income housing in India and South Africa):

- Short film database of the case studies that observe daily realities, household practices, social patterns and energy use of female occupants and the built environment will be collected during the Research Network and made accessible to all collaborators. Policy briefings and design guidelines for energy infrastructure in low income housing will be written by PI and Co-I, with input from all collaborators (Indian Institute of Technology/IITB, DFU, DAG, City of Cape Town) and the Advisory Board. Cambridge workshop will offer further capacity building for project partners from Mumbai and Cape Town.

- Local policy makers, NGOs, energy providers, low income communities, designers and developers involved in design and delivery of energy infrastructure and low income housing in India and South Africa will be reached in workshops in Mumbai and Cape Town: selected films and workshop proceedings will be made openly accessible through the Research Network website.

- Accessible articles will be written for professional publications such as the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects and Architectural Review.

3. Public engagement (UK, South Africa and India):

- Research Network project website will be created by PI to inform about the progress of work and make the selected deliverables of the project or its summaries publicly available. The Research Network website will be prepared by PI and it will be hosted at the server of the Department of Architecture in Cambridge.

- Popular media channels will be used for public engagement: PI and Co-I will tweet about the Research Network events and findings and the international partners are encouraged to follow and disseminate these channels.

- The research project will participate in the 'Festival of Ideas' at Cambridge University in October 2020 that is a two-week programme consisting of open access events that are well attended by the public.

This Research Network impact will contribute to the following ambitions: (a) Provide an innovative approach for evidence-base energy and housing policies for India and South Africa; (b) Devise gender inclusive energy infrastructure solutions for low income segments in Mumbai and Cape Town, with the collaborators (e.g. IITB, DFU, DAG, City of Cape Town); (c) Strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK, South Africa and India. The research network project will have impact on more sustainable cities (SDG11), clean energy (SDG7) and gender equality (SDG5).