Caribbean Cyclone Cartography: Mapping histories, narratives and futures of hurricane 'resilience' in a changing climate.
Lead Research Organisation:
Goldsmiths University of London
Department Name: Anthropology
Abstract
When category-5 Hurricane Maria made landfall in Dominica (Eastern Caribbean, population 71,293) on 18th September 2017 - killing 31 people, disappearing 37 people, damaging 90% of buildings and costing an estimated US$ 1.3 billion/226% of GDP - this environmentally and economically vulnerable Small Island Developing State was left in chaos, without national planning measures to ensure a clear course to recovery. Thus, besides limited humanitarian aid, Dominicans survived Maria by improvising meals from stockpiled food, assembling work crews to clear debris, telling cathartic stories to ease stress and using remittances to rebuild homes. They survived, through social modes of resilience.
Months later, the government vowed to make Dominica -the most mountainous island in the region with perhaps the greatest number of environmental hazards per square mile - the 'first climate resilient nation on earth', launching the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD) and a 'National Resilience Development Strategy' (aligned to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development and Sendai agendas) to 'climate proof' the island's housing, infrastructure, energy and tourism sectors. Yet, despite this macroscale 'resilience turn', very little is known about the micro - individual, household and community level - adaptations that enabled Dominicans to survive Maria, Erika (2015) and earlier storms. Nor is there a critical high-level conversation what this ubiquitous term, 'resilience', means to everyday Dominicans - notably marginalized groups (Dominican youth, female farmers, indigenous people and displaced communities).
Towards creating a more inclusive understanding of cyclone preparation, response and recovery, the CCC project will develop collaborative methodologies that explore lived understandings of what 'building back better' might mean in local terms. This multi-disciplinary approach to such 'vernacular resiliencies' is intended to complement and critically enhance the CREAD agenda, holistically mapping survivor-led recoveries - past, present and future. But why mapping? We believe maps do not simply represent the world; they guide our experience of it.
We will investigate and visually map cyclone resilience 'from below' by using the following research methods:
- Oral, archival and architectural enquiry into hurricane histories.
- Contemporary community-led digital storytelling and ethnography of life and livelihoods after Maria (with an emphasis on marginalized experiences).
- Citizen-led GIS survey and cartographies of hazards, shelters and response agencies across the island.
The research will produce the following outputs:
An online hurricane 'resilience' map of Dominica - documenting historic and recent storm recoveries; and plotting hazard sites, shelters and support agencies to reduce future risks to wellbeing. A map that is publicly accessible, informative and easy to navigate - for citizen, policy maker and scholar alike.
A series of multi-stakeholder symposia, research enskillment workshops and practice-based interventions - to build research capacities, share models of best practice (both indigenous and scientific) across scales, specialisms and sectors.
A cluster of public project film screenings, a visual arts exhibition and Caribbean Climate Conversations podcast/radio show - to showcase key outputs to Dominican, British, Jamaican and international publics (promoting informed ecological citizenship).
An online digital hub - an archive of research outputs to stand as a public cyclone resilience resource; and a blog space to offer a home for the pre-existing (but at present piecemeal) public conversation on disaster resilience that is ongoing in the Caribbean.
A series of project investigator publications - academic articles, publicly disseminated info-zines and an edited book featuring research outcomes
Months later, the government vowed to make Dominica -the most mountainous island in the region with perhaps the greatest number of environmental hazards per square mile - the 'first climate resilient nation on earth', launching the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD) and a 'National Resilience Development Strategy' (aligned to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development and Sendai agendas) to 'climate proof' the island's housing, infrastructure, energy and tourism sectors. Yet, despite this macroscale 'resilience turn', very little is known about the micro - individual, household and community level - adaptations that enabled Dominicans to survive Maria, Erika (2015) and earlier storms. Nor is there a critical high-level conversation what this ubiquitous term, 'resilience', means to everyday Dominicans - notably marginalized groups (Dominican youth, female farmers, indigenous people and displaced communities).
Towards creating a more inclusive understanding of cyclone preparation, response and recovery, the CCC project will develop collaborative methodologies that explore lived understandings of what 'building back better' might mean in local terms. This multi-disciplinary approach to such 'vernacular resiliencies' is intended to complement and critically enhance the CREAD agenda, holistically mapping survivor-led recoveries - past, present and future. But why mapping? We believe maps do not simply represent the world; they guide our experience of it.
We will investigate and visually map cyclone resilience 'from below' by using the following research methods:
- Oral, archival and architectural enquiry into hurricane histories.
- Contemporary community-led digital storytelling and ethnography of life and livelihoods after Maria (with an emphasis on marginalized experiences).
- Citizen-led GIS survey and cartographies of hazards, shelters and response agencies across the island.
The research will produce the following outputs:
An online hurricane 'resilience' map of Dominica - documenting historic and recent storm recoveries; and plotting hazard sites, shelters and support agencies to reduce future risks to wellbeing. A map that is publicly accessible, informative and easy to navigate - for citizen, policy maker and scholar alike.
A series of multi-stakeholder symposia, research enskillment workshops and practice-based interventions - to build research capacities, share models of best practice (both indigenous and scientific) across scales, specialisms and sectors.
A cluster of public project film screenings, a visual arts exhibition and Caribbean Climate Conversations podcast/radio show - to showcase key outputs to Dominican, British, Jamaican and international publics (promoting informed ecological citizenship).
An online digital hub - an archive of research outputs to stand as a public cyclone resilience resource; and a blog space to offer a home for the pre-existing (but at present piecemeal) public conversation on disaster resilience that is ongoing in the Caribbean.
A series of project investigator publications - academic articles, publicly disseminated info-zines and an edited book featuring research outcomes
Planned Impact
CCC responds to three global development agendas: The UN SDGs (4 and 13), Sendai Priorities (2 and 4) and 'The Humanitarian Grand Bargain' (Point 6); and Dominica's 'National Resilience Development Strategy 2030' (which draws on the Sendai and UN 2030 for Sustainable Development agendas). To meet these challenges the project will:
- Create opportunities for marginalised and environmentally vulnerable people in lower income countries to research disaster recoveries, enhance their climate change hazard knowledge and learn adaptation strategies.
- Question the limitations of official donor-led resilience agendas and invite consideration of how these might be complemented by marginalised survivor knowledges, strategies and experiences.
- Increase awareness among publics and policy makers of various forms of 'vernacular climatic resiliencies' to inform preparedness policy, and thus improve safety, recovery and wellbeing.
- Strengthen the capabilities of non-academic partners in civil society and educational organisations to use oral history, visual ethnography, arts practice and peer-to-peer agricultural learning methods to share climate resilience knowledge and, thus, promote wellbeing via hurricane preparedness and recovery strategies.
- Challenge architects, builders and farmers to explore how their practices can mitigate cyclone related hazards and offer sustainable (building/agricultural) solutions to living with climatic uncertainty.
To meet these goals CCC will fulfil the following impact objectives:
1. Engage citizens from marginalised groups and ecologically vulnerable communities in research methods workshops and produce collaborative research projects. Such workshops will increase wellbeing by expanding knowledge of climate change, cyclone risks and recoveries; and speaking to CREAD, Disaster Management and humanitarian policies and practice 'from below'.
2. Host a series of survivor-led capacity building interventions on the themes of resilient vernacular architecture, agricultural adaption, citizen science and rethinking resilience through the creative arts. These interventions will be sector-specific, public-facing and draw local and regional user groups (e.g. construction consultants, farmer cooperatives or artist collectives) into knowledge exchanges and dialogues to practically guide and realise local sustainable development. Outputs will include exhibitions, printed info-zines and a peer-to-peer field farm school.
3. The Climate Conversations Podcast will cultivate national and international public dialogue on cyclone risks, recoveries and resilience in the Caribbean. It will be posted on SoundCloud to maximise international access and pitched to national radio stations to promote local engagement. The podcast will feature research collaborators, students, academic and civil society partners, government (incl. CREAD) and development agency staff to offer inclusive conversations on cyclone resilience and opportunities for preparedness education.
4. Convene a series impact events and exhibitions throughout the project. These include multiparty stakeholder symposia, bringing together academic and non-academic partners with government and development policy actors. These will include more inward facing strategic round table talks and open events for wider constituencies such as international and local academic colleagues, students, social workers and agriculturalists.
5. The website and final map are the ultimate outcomes of the project, offering a user-friendly resilience map of Dominica: charting past storm recoveries, survivor narratives and locating future hazards to foster preparedness. The map will be open access, thus internationally and locally accessible to citizens, scholars, and policy makers and humanitarian teams; and will cement project legacy as a practical tool and archive for cyclone adaptation.
- Create opportunities for marginalised and environmentally vulnerable people in lower income countries to research disaster recoveries, enhance their climate change hazard knowledge and learn adaptation strategies.
- Question the limitations of official donor-led resilience agendas and invite consideration of how these might be complemented by marginalised survivor knowledges, strategies and experiences.
- Increase awareness among publics and policy makers of various forms of 'vernacular climatic resiliencies' to inform preparedness policy, and thus improve safety, recovery and wellbeing.
- Strengthen the capabilities of non-academic partners in civil society and educational organisations to use oral history, visual ethnography, arts practice and peer-to-peer agricultural learning methods to share climate resilience knowledge and, thus, promote wellbeing via hurricane preparedness and recovery strategies.
- Challenge architects, builders and farmers to explore how their practices can mitigate cyclone related hazards and offer sustainable (building/agricultural) solutions to living with climatic uncertainty.
To meet these goals CCC will fulfil the following impact objectives:
1. Engage citizens from marginalised groups and ecologically vulnerable communities in research methods workshops and produce collaborative research projects. Such workshops will increase wellbeing by expanding knowledge of climate change, cyclone risks and recoveries; and speaking to CREAD, Disaster Management and humanitarian policies and practice 'from below'.
2. Host a series of survivor-led capacity building interventions on the themes of resilient vernacular architecture, agricultural adaption, citizen science and rethinking resilience through the creative arts. These interventions will be sector-specific, public-facing and draw local and regional user groups (e.g. construction consultants, farmer cooperatives or artist collectives) into knowledge exchanges and dialogues to practically guide and realise local sustainable development. Outputs will include exhibitions, printed info-zines and a peer-to-peer field farm school.
3. The Climate Conversations Podcast will cultivate national and international public dialogue on cyclone risks, recoveries and resilience in the Caribbean. It will be posted on SoundCloud to maximise international access and pitched to national radio stations to promote local engagement. The podcast will feature research collaborators, students, academic and civil society partners, government (incl. CREAD) and development agency staff to offer inclusive conversations on cyclone resilience and opportunities for preparedness education.
4. Convene a series impact events and exhibitions throughout the project. These include multiparty stakeholder symposia, bringing together academic and non-academic partners with government and development policy actors. These will include more inward facing strategic round table talks and open events for wider constituencies such as international and local academic colleagues, students, social workers and agriculturalists.
5. The website and final map are the ultimate outcomes of the project, offering a user-friendly resilience map of Dominica: charting past storm recoveries, survivor narratives and locating future hazards to foster preparedness. The map will be open access, thus internationally and locally accessible to citizens, scholars, and policy makers and humanitarian teams; and will cement project legacy as a practical tool and archive for cyclone adaptation.
Publications
Philogene Heron, A
(2021)
Notes from the Ti Kai Project, Dominica: Making Home in the Hurricanes Path
in Archaeological Review
Adom Philogene Heron
(2023)
The Ti kai Project: Craft. Collaboration. Care
in Sargasso: A Journal of Caribbean Literature, Language & Culture
Heron Adom Philogene
(2022)
Still Standing: The Ti Kais of Dominica
| Title | A Road to Repair |
| Description | A Road to Repair - a Petite Savanne Koudmen (short film) Road to Repair tells the story of villagers rebuilding a the road to their home, their farms, their livelihoods - a lifeline for a community devastated and displaced by tropical storm Erika in 2015. Shortly after landslides and floods took the lives of 18 souls, the village was declared abandoned by government. Yet, many continue to make life there. Some never left; some go back and forth to their gardens or the bay oil distillery in Ti Savanne from their resettlement in Bellevue Chopin; and some simply return for the weekend 'lime' and enjoy their place. Their road is a pathway home - to livelihoods, to ancient bay trees and to their land. The road to repair is long but the villagers are making a way. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | The film has been watched more than 1600 times and has increased support for the petite savanne road rebuilding project. Contect details to donate material support to the group or simply join the koudmen was shared. Supporting the road promoted economic development to a community abandoned - yet with a running bay oil distillery and many active farms. |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X29Na8SIXo |
| Title | Besides rivers: abundant life and ecologies of hope |
| Description | As part of our artist interventions we helped to support a collaboration between a local artist, mother who lost two children during the storm and a French photographer who was a resident on the island of Dominica Post-Maria. This collaboration explored the intersections of ecology, loss and regrowth in the wake of the hurricane. It invited a creative rethinking of resilience 'from below' and enabled the use of art as a therapeutic intervention. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | This essay and artistic collaboration led to a submission to the 2021 Jolene Rickard photographic narrative essay competition awarded by The Dark Laboratory, Cornell University (https://www.darklaboratory.com/rickard-prize-in-photographic-narrative). The artsits were awarded Honourable Mention (3rd place) in the prize. |
| URL | https://www.dorapapp.com/driftedaway |
| Title | Creative Repair (film series) |
| Description | A series of 6 biographies centring the artistic practice of Dominican visual artists, poets and musicians whose art works towards personal and collective healing in the wake of disaster. Films created by Michael Lees, Adom Philogene Heron, Annabel Wilson and Nicole Morson. 6 films | feature artist(s): - The Nature of Ruins | Carol Sorhaindo - Seven Head Monster | Alvin 'Vino' Adrien - Moving Back, Looking Forward | Michael Lees - My Country Still Nice | Chris B - Liquid Fingerprint | Shadi | Creative Repair - Guabancex | Celia Sorhaindo, N'jelle Thorne, Nicole Morson, YoungSkilledMusicians |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Public screenings (August 2022) in Dominica received widespread engagement with public - feedback generated through open discussion fora: expanded public's concept of 'resilience'; enhanced exposure of local artists to national/international audience; offered healing, cathartic and therapeutic experience for survivor-viewers |
| URL | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL-1JdszSQnOSyRAprpZdvrGn94U-IhrT |
| Title | The Dominica Story Project (film series) |
| Description | The Dominica Story Project 10 videos In April 2021 Student Interns from The Create Caribbean Institute conducted a series of interviews and created a series of films with residents of Loubiere a village in south west Dominica (Lesser Antilles) that was deeply affected by hurricane Maria (2017). The young interviewees (also Maria-survivors) asked questions about earlier storms like Hurricane David, asked how the interviewees lives, livelihoods and community have been affected by storms, asked what recovery/healing might mean for their community, four years post-Maria, and asked about their hopes for the future. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | - promoted informed ecological citizenship - awareness of environmental impacts of climate change on their lives - wellbeing: mental health benefits of speaking about painful experiences with those who understand and hear ones story; physical wellbeing of increased learning how to respond in disaster scenario for audience and interviewers - student intern filmmakers gained extensive transferrable skills |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL-1JdszSQnP5kMhC3xMgm-nI_6Smk3I8 |
| Title | Women Farmer Oral Histories (film series) |
| Description | A series of two short films co-conceived by sociologist Cecilia Green, filmaker Michael Lees and young women from the I Have a Right girls empowerment group (based in Woodford Hill), alongside sociologist Annabel Wilson and anthropologist Adom Philogene Heron. The films follow the life journeys of three women farmers - Lillian Marcelin, Judith Peters and Octavia Hunter - each from Calibishie, north eastern Dominica. The women's oral histories track personal journeys in farming, from childhood memories on family farms, to earning great respect for prolific cultivation in adulthood, to supporting and raising families alongside their farms, to the decline of bananas, the impacts climate change and hurricanes on their livelihoods, as well as the importance of their farming group, the North East Women in Agriculture Movement, in their lives. Judith's film - is recorded by young people from IHARF, who were trained in visual methods and devised their own questions and conducted their own interviews, with support from Adom. Post production by Sam Sweeting narrated by Cecilia Green in conversation with Lillian, Octavia and their fellow NEWAM members- Directed and shot by Michael Lees |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | - informed new knowledge and shifting attitudes towards farming amongst viewers and collaborators |
| URL | https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL-1JdszSQnPJutRlMV4lwR2AuNNVVDGG |
| Description | 'Surviving Storms Past': Archival Internship (Work Package 1) - A preliminary survey of key historical hurricane sources at the Dominica National Archives and Documentation Centre has been undertaken by a Create Caribbean and yielded a wealth of sources from the 1813 hurricanes, up to hurricane David in 1979 and Erika in 2015. Our intern has begun digitisation, as well as writing personal summaries and reflections on the materials she is collecting. As an unexpected offshoot of this work we have also discovered a wealth of colonial sources on Dominican storms at the UK National Archives and applied for funds from Goldsmiths Research Intern Program (GRIP) to create a parallel internship to collect similar sources there. WP1 UPDATES 2022: Dominica Based intern completed archival work - creating an online archive to be donated to Dominica national library, a podcast episode, and a blog post about her key findings; We were successfully awarded the Grip Internship (£3,000) - that student has produced a film and blog post as an output of this work; WP Lead Prof Cecilia Green, undertook her fieldwork during summer 2021 - undertaking a focus group and three oral history interviews with women farmers about past storms, climate adaptations and overall experiences of life as female farmers in Dominica, she is currently writing up this work. Michael Lees, a fantatsic young Dominican filmmaker is producing a film of her interviews. Enduring Creole Vernacular (Work Package 2) - Preliminary research findings through meetings with architects and historians on the environmentally resilient features of Dominica's vernacular housing (roof shape, materials used, foundation type, house frame joinery, house orientation viz wind etc) have not only give clear direction to the survey (and specifics of what on, and where to undertake it), the have also inspired a collaboration between local civil society organisation SHAPE (Society for Heritage Architectural Preservation and Enhancement) and the CCC project in the survey of resilient vernacular housing - titled 'Still Standing: The Ti Kais of Dominica' (ti kai, kweyol: 'small house'). This collaboration has led to a planned book publication (see narrative impact) WP2 UPDATES 2022: 'Still Standing: The Ti Kais of Dominica' is under contract with local and international independent publisher Papillote Press, which will greatly enhance reach of much need knowledge on vernacular ways of building to withstand the hurricane; the survey - involving 3 Dominica State College Interns, 2 Undergraduate Dominican Architects and Members of a local heritage NGO SHAPE Dominica - is complete and we are in writing mode. Dominica Story Project (Work Package 3) - 4 of 6 Collaborative Research methods workshops with Create Caribbean Research Institute interns (aged 16-20 at Dominica partner organisation) have been completed - on 'resilience from below', interviewing, visual ethnography and ethics. They have generated an emerging body of survivor-led methodologies - ethically sensitive audio-visual approaches to documenting medium-term post-storm recoveries. WP3 UPDATES 2022: DSP all workshops and fieldwork in disaster affected community was conducted successfully, 9 x video interviews were recorded by the student interns; the films have been post-produced by a Goldsmiths Visual anthropology Alumni and were released to a rich reception to coincide with the close of the 2021 Hurricane Season and COP26 in Glasgow. The films have received an average of 1000 views each - thus extending understandings of resilience from below and promoting informed ecological citizenship amongst wider Dominican publics. Findings: place-based understanding of recoveries are very important - relationships to rivers, sea and mountains - each hazards but also afford healing in various ways (food/provision grounds, water sources, sites of recreation). - Creative Repair (formerly artists residency) WP4 - was somewhat downsized to meet ODA Review requirements and came online in early 2022 after an unforeseen end to fieldwork due to Covid restrictions in Sept 2021. Now Creative Repair takes the form of a series of 6 films with Dominican artists who ae paid an honorarium to participate and offer reflections on how their work helps them and wider communities heal/life with the effects of past and future storms as well as other forms of crisis. We have also integrated unused funds held for a project counsellor to devise a dance workshop for affected communities with award winning Jamaican dance instructors living in Dominica. Films are in production stage. Dance workshops to come online early summer 2022. Mapping Hurricane Resilience (Work Package 5) - Phase one of WP5, preliminary island-wide mapping using satellite imagery and pre-existing datasets, has been complete. Core findings from this phase have been (a) the development of EVH (Exposure, Vulnerability and Hazard) Index for Dominica which identifies the extent to which specific sites (e.g. houses, infrastructure, businesses) are exposed to an intersecting range of hazards (e.g. landslides, flooding, sea surges); (b) built numerous digital ESRI maps of Dominica to illustrate such hazard vulnerabilities; and (c) using the index & maps, arriving at an evidenced-based selection of 5 key communities in which to undertake fieldwork. Of these 5 communities, 4 are EVH 'hotspots' (high-hazard areas), whilst 1, is a 'cold spot', to function as a site of comparison (to identify key adaptations). The EVH findings and maps will inform tentative fieldwork hypotheses, questioning and lines of enquiry. WP5 UPDATES 2022: EVH fieldwork and analyses of 5 communities has been conducted; Research Associate in write up phase of this survey. During fieldwork a Geography PhD student from Paul-Valéry Montpellier University joined the team and he and the Research Associate are currently working on a co-authored paper about Exposures, Vulnerabilities and Hazards in key affected communities. Water Harvesting Project - WP6 Supported women farmers to build affordable water management systems to utilise, store and pump scarce rainwater - particularly during the ever-hotter dry season that precedes hurricane season. This stream came online in May 2021. Rather than rainwater tanks the Research Associate for this workstream led a practice based workshop on rainwater water management - flow, storage and pumping - and supported the building of these systems in 9 farms. Found that Dominica, although associated with being a place of abundant rivers and rainfall, experiences increasingly hot dry seasons that devastate crops. The water management adaptations were welcomed and adjusted to the topography of each farm site. Project Leadership (Work Package 7) - thus far CCC have initiated 3 high-level meetings with CREAD (the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica), which have resulted in a burgeoning partnership. The first was online with senior CREAD directors in late 2019, to introduce CCC and explore avenues of mutual interest; second was with co-investigator Ava Maxam, face-to-face in January 2020 as part of a resilience knowledge sharing exercise with MGIS; and third was a face-to-face meeting at the start of fieldwork in February 2021-a steering meeting to guide our collaboration during CCC's fieldwork phase (Jan 2021-Nov 2021). The latter meeting found 3 key areas of exchange - building a shared database of existing hurricane report data (secondary sources); sharing GIS data (primary research data); and community-based resilience knowledge (primary research data). Work Package 7 update: CREAD collaboration concluded with the sharing of 5 community hazard and exposure maps to from WP5 to CREAD's communities lead to support their local village level Disaster Management Planning |
| Exploitation Route | 'Surviving Storms Past': Archival Internship - Dominica library service will have access to the digitised special collections so students, reserachers and members of the public can easily access the materials from anywhere. Thus promoting informed ecological citerzinship (Objective D). Enduring Creole Vernacular (Work Package 2) - outcomes to taken forward in the form of a VAG Publication Grant app by SHAPE which enhances their capacity as a national partners to access afunds (Objective C) - was successfully awarded in April 2021. The proposed book titled 'Still Standing: The Ti Kais of Dominica' is due to be published with Dominican publisher Papillote Press in 2022 - now under contract; and to be made available to Dominica State College architecture lecturers and students who currently have neglible architecture history teaching in their syllabus. Dominica Story Project (Work Package 3) - methodologies, ethics and qualitative skills can be reaplied to future studies, work and independent research undertaken by the participating Create Caribbean interns. Moreover, these skills for everyday enquiry will hopefully contribute to a broader public 'resilience consciousness' and informed ecological citizenship (Objective D) - release of films has furthered these ends, particularly given that they have reached thousands of viewers in Dominica and wider region. Creative Repair - will similarly work towards the ends of promoting public 'resilience consciousness' and informed ecological citizenship through the artists films scheduled to be released in June 2022 (Objective D) Mapping Hurricane Resilience (Work Package 5) - final community maps have been shared with CREAD to inform their community based disaster planning. They will also be made available to colleagues in the Planning Division, Lands & Surveys and The Office of Disaster Management - to help inform local decision making. Water Harvesting - as an outcome of this workstream we will produce an accessible manual / zine to be distributed through the ministry of agriculture and farmers groups across the island in the interest of knowledge exchange and promoting efficient rainwater harvesting techniques island wide. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/ |
| Description | Work Package 1: The preliminary survey of historical hurricanes undertaken by our Create Caribbean 'Surviving Storms Past': Archival Intern at the Dominica National Archives and Documentation Centre, has found a wealth of sources from the 1813 hurricanes going forward to the present. This initial work has stimulated awareness of such resources within public library service amongst library staff who are supporting this work. The collaboration between the National Archives and CCC has promoted informed environmental citizenship and an awareness towards lessons that can be learned from historic storms. Our Create Caribbean intern is a young woman of indigenous Kalinago and Afro-Caribbean heritage, and the library staff with whom she is in dialogue share a similar background, thus contributing to the access of this historic knowledge by promoting gender and ethnic equitable inclusion within these spaces. For the intern specifically, who is from a remote village, it is her first time accessing the documentation centre and the internship has invited her to imagine the historical effects of significant events in relation to her own experiences. Update: GRIP internship added to findings of Dominica based archival work with findings from UK National Archives - that have been digitised and made available to Dominican researchers, thus repatriating knowledge of future survivals and adaptations that can offer forward looking lessons. Women farmers oral history project gathered stories of agricultural survival in the wake of storms, banana market decline, personal challenges and adaptations to climate change - these stories have been shared during focus groups with the North East Women in Agriculture Movement to exchange techniques of food security, as well as a 2 short films to promote wider learning - when shared publicly via youtube, Dominican media houses and public screenings in the UK summer and winter 2022. Work Package 2: Vernacular Architecture - Preliminary research findings on the environmentally resilient features of Dominica's Vernacular Housing have inspired a collaboration between local civil society organisation SHAPE (Society for Heritage Architectural Preservation and Enhancement) Dominica and CCC to apply for a Vernacular Architecture Group (VAG) Publication Grant to publish a book with a local publisher on popular dwellings as ecologically sustainable homes that are built with nature and environmental disaster in mind. By enhancing the capacity of SHAPE as a local organisation led by a female president, where 6/7 members of its executive are women and with a female architecture advisor, CCC is not only supporting international income generating activities amongst an NGO in an ODA country, it is also supporting gender equitable access to funding in Dominica's heritage sector. Moreover, in co-writing the grant application CCC has invited SHAPE to consider traditional building techniques that use local, affordably priced, renewable and non-polluting yet durable materials; thus promoting environmental sustainability and architectural resilience. This, in turn, contributes to a traditional, historically grounded concept of 'building back better' (Sendai 4) and harmonising SHAPE's thinking with the Dominican Government's 'National Resilience Development Strategy 2030' vision amongst SHAPE. Moreover, by promoting and raising awareness of this low cost and durable building style within SHAPE and beyond, CCC is contributing to sustainable economic development of Dominica's housing stock. Update 2022/23: SHAPE and CCC were successful in being awarded this Vernacular Architecture Group Research Grant - thus promoting vernacular techniques as a way to build back better; using a book - contracted to a local and international publisher - to spread this message particularly amongst low income groups you live in ti kai. One Ti Kai owner has also been inspired to transform her ti kai into a small homestay to increase her household income. Book has been released internationally with widespread engagement from international architectural magazines (eg RIBA) and interest in future impact project collaborations (e.g. with engineers at UCL) on the Ti Kai. Work Package 3: Dominica Story Project - Oral participant feedback from Collaborative CCC Research Methodologies workshops with Create Caribbean Research Institute (Dominica partner org) Interns (aged 16-20) has found that emerging survivor led methodologies (specific audio-visual methods for documenting recovery - an early finding) have revealed a change in how these survivors/interns understand and approach research as a form of 'resilience from below' (qualitative, humanistic, survivor led, publicly accessible). In support of SDGs 4 Inclusive Education/Lifelong Learning and 13 Climate Action, this group of 8 black, indigenous and female hurricane survivors from ODA recipient country Dominica have suggested that as a result of CCC workshops they are better positioned to begin research on what 'building back better' (Sendai 4) might mean in local terms - thus contributing to their and their community's wellbeing in the face environmental disasters. UPDATE: films released and shared amongst diverse constituencies to share examples of resilience from below in context of COP26 and its impact for Caribbean SIDS as well as aligning to the close of the 2021 hurricane season; films widely circulated and have now extended their public reach to 16,000 viewers (see https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL-1JdszSQnP5kMhC3xMgm-nI_6Smk3I8). WP 4: Creative Repair - has invited artists to think creatively with the notion of building back better, what wellbeing, healing and climate adaptation might mean in their lives and that of their neighbours - though the series of 6 films on this theme is currently under production the conversations this work has stimulated have already generated a careful critical questioning of what resilience might mean in local terms - thus promoting a deeper sense of wellbeing that is grounded in Dominican realities. Update 2023/23: films produced and released, with national impact at public screening events (Dominica) and internationally at UK public symposium (Goldsmiths, UK); exposed films to wide constituency including survivors, who reported healing and cathartic impacts of artist practices. WP 5: Mapping Resilience - so far the main impacts of mapping hazards, exposures and adaptations has been to share these maps with the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD - charged by government and int' funders with making Dominica 'the world's first climate resilience country'. CREAD can now utilise them in their local disaster planning in the 5 key communities in which we have worked. This WP, led by Black female Earth Scientists in Jamaica and Dominica has generated first hand capacity building and opportunities to contribute to Dominica's national resilience strategy being put into action. These plans seek to promote wellbeing, disaster mitigation and examples of effective hazard adaptation. 2022/23 update: Jamaica based colleagues have bid for and won EU grant funding on coastal disaster management projects throughout Caribbean. WP 6 Water harvesting - creating access to harvested rainwater during the rainy season has led to techniques for living with/adapting to climate change, promoting food security and living with ever more unpredictable climatic conditions. Moreover, since the women farmers who attended this program were mostly full time farmers the lessons and techniques they learned promoted economic development via secured livelihoods hence promoting poverty alleviation and these crops are also subsistence crops to ensure their own food security. Moreover, these solutions do not require fuel to power pumps so are carbon neutral, sustainable and low cost. 2022/23 update: Small Farmer water management handbook released to farmers. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Advised a Overseas Development Institute (ODI) think tank on key themes, contexts and stakeholders to consult for a podcast series focused on Risk and resilience in the Caribbean |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Dominica National Youth Council Grant Writing Workshop Led by PI, Dr Adom P H |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | - As mentioned above capacity building to increase access of Dominican third sector practitioners to access funding for their own projects |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=734430294110050 |
| Description | Farm Maps and Water Analysis |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Learning of water management techniques promotes improved crop yields for subsistence and sale, particularly during the dry season that precedes the hurricane season; with global warming this period is becoming dryer so water management techniques are becoming more of an existential issue. |
| Description | Hazards Maps Provided to Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD) for improved Community Disaster Management Planning |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Promoting survival to cyclone related disasters through location specific identification of and exposure to localised hazards within specific communities - landslides, riverine flooding, sea surge and wind damage. By providing an evidence base for improving these plans these maps promote wellbeing and safety of residents in communities exposed to various hazards. |
| Description | Caribbean Digital Scholarship Collective (CDSC), Barnard College - The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
| Amount | $5,000,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 03/2026 |
| Description | Departmental travel fund |
| Amount | £800 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2020 |
| End | 03/2020 |
| Description | Diaspora Solidatities Lab: Summer Workshop 2023 (Dominica) |
| Amount | $2,000,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 07/2023 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | GRIP Internship |
| Amount | £2,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 09/2021 |
| Description | Travel and fieldwork assistance |
| Amount | $3,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Syracuse University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 08/2021 |
| Description | Vernacular Architecture Group Research Award |
| Amount | £2,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG21/02 |
| Organisation | Vernacular Architecture Group |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| Start | 04/2021 |
| End | 05/2022 |
| Title | Exposure, Vulnerability, Hazards (EVH) Rubric for Assessing Hurricane 'Resilience' at a Community level |
| Description | Work Package 6 - Mapping Hurricane 'Resilience' Adapted an Exposure, Vulnerability, Hazards (EVH) Rubric for Assessing Hurricane 'Resilience' at a community level. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | EVH was developed by MGI as an adaptation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) method, where spatial parameters representing Exposures, Vulnerabilities and Hazards are combined. In cases where EVH values were statistically extreme, these were labelled as 'hot spots' (most vulnerable) at one end of the scale and 'cold spots' (lease vulnerable) at the other. - this method has underpinned the maps shared with CREAD and so is set to inform their current Community Disaster Management Plans. Method promotes community hurricane survival, wellbeing, ecological citizenship |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/2021/03/23/transitions-geospatial-fieldwork-in-dominica/ |
| Title | Survival Plots - Collaborative Qualitative Research Method (Work Package 3 - Dominica Story project ) |
| Description | ork Package 3 - Dominica Story project - Introduced novel approach to community based disaster research. Rarely do members of a disaster affected community get to be the ones to gather stories from affected communities - typically external media agencies, aid agencies and researchers enter and mediate experiences of grief. Survival Plotting is a method through which locally sensitive stories of survival, repair and hope are gathered. CCC PI Dr Adom P H and Research Associate / PM Dr Annabel Wilson trained Dominica State College (post-16) students - hurricane Maria survivors themselves - in qualitative interview skills, invited them to devise their own questions and they received film making training from Dr Ricardo Liezola (Visual Anth', Goldsmiths). They then conducted interviews with members of an affected community the PI used to live in with those he had known for a long time. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This ground up approach to researching hurricane resilience builds collaborative research relationships in ways that ensure knowledge is not extracted but stays within communities and promotes publicly accessible research - shared locally via Facebook, Instagram and Youtube - each video receiving between 600 and 2,500 views. In terms of learning, the method enables student interns and interviewees to develop informed ecological citizenship, heightening their awareness and knowledge of the both hazards within their landscapes as well as the methods they have adapted to live with and mitigate their threats. Hence, promoting safety and mental wellbeing for hurricane affected communities; and developing transferrable skills and promoting economic development amongst students that will support their future career paths (in media, development, journalism, future studies etc). |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/workshops/ |
| Description | Dark Laboratory |
| Organisation | Cornell University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Adom Philogene Heron is member of this Digital Humantities Lab Surviving Storms have contributed to teaching exchanges, Dark Laboratory Photographic Narrative Essay Competition and co-written Grant Applications for the DSL Mellon Grant |
| Collaborator Contribution | convened teaching exchanges, hosted the Dark Laboratory Photographic Narrative Essay Competition and co-written Grant Applications for the DSL Mellon Grant |
| Impact | Dark Lab Essay Prize honourable mention - https://www.darklaboratory.com/dark-lab-prize Supported $2M Mellon Grant Award with Tao Leigh Goffe, Lead and Founder of Dark Lab - https://cal.msu.edu/news/multi-institutional-diaspora-solidarities-lab-launches-with-2-million-mellon-grant/ |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Diaspora Solidarities Lab |
| Organisation | Michigan State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Adom Philogene Heron is member of the support DSL Writers - a collective that supports and mentors scholars of the African diaspora with support, mentorship and reviewing of full book manuscripts |
| Collaborator Contribution | support towards manuscript development and reviewing |
| Impact | Process is ongoing, ie. writing in process, no 'outputs' yet |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Dominica College - Architecture and Civil Engineering Program (The Ti Kai Project) |
| Organisation | Dominica State College |
| Country | Dominica |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Additional collaboration that emerged during course of award: - We have collaborated with Architecture and Civil Engineering Lecturers at the Dominica State College to devise a program of work to study the resilient qualities of popular vernacular houses in Dominica (known as Ti Kais). |
| Collaborator Contribution | - We (CCC Project) identified, in dialogue with college Lecturers Mr Hurtault and Mr Guiste, that the Architecture and Civil Engineering Associate Degree syllabus at the college has no focus on Caribbean or Dominican vernacular design and construction. - Together we, CCC PI and Lecturers, conceived the idea to recruit three student interns from the program to undertake the Ti Kai Project under the supervision of the PI (Dr Adom PH), lead architect Olive Bell (MArch) and SHAPE (Society for Historic Architectural Preservation and Enhancement) Dominica president Marica Honychurch. |
| Impact | - Knowledge transfer on vernacular architecture styles and architectural research methods to student interns - Sensitisation of local populations - residents and their neighbours - to the value (intangible and tangible - e.g. tourism short stays) of heritage preservation and stewardship in Dominica. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Paul Valéry University, Montpellier x CCC Hurricane Survival Fieldwork Collaboration |
| Organisation | Paul Valéry University |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We invited Samuel Battut a Geography PhD student to join our work package 5 field trips to various disaster related communities. We used our long term fieldwork experience and linguistic fluency to introduce him to research interlocutors, we shared hazard data (drone imagery) and shared recorded interview files with him. |
| Collaborator Contribution | - Sam has transcribed 4 interviews from our shared fieldwork - Sam helped with field data collection on geomorphilogy (landslides, coastal changes) and mortality rates - all of which has contributed to maps shared with CREAD (https://www.creadominica.org/about-us-1) to inform their community disaster planning. - and will contribute to a authored article with GIS Research Associate |
| Impact | Output pending; Collaboration is multi-disciplinary (anthropology and geography) |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Title | Interactive Surviving Storms Map |
| Description | An online interactive web map as a publicly accessible holder of all project content / outputs. Web map is browser friendly on phone, tablet and computer. User friendly design enables members of the public, students and researchers to locate survivor stories, historic documents, films and photographs of traditional houses across a host of communities. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Development is complete but release forthcoming in April. |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/ |
| Description | 'Geographies of Risk' podcast S2E07 - Dr Adom Philogene Heron - Caribbean cyclone cartography // surviving storms |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 'Geographies of Risk' podcast from The Environmental Dynamics Lab (EDL) - S2E07 hosted by Prof. Eli Lazarus, Southampton University. - PI, Adom PH - introduced the project vision, objectives, key findings and discussed book project - A wide international scholarly audience was reached and stimulated further discussion and a transformation of people's understanding of hurricanes and Caribbean experiences of disaster more broadly |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://envidynxlab.org/portfolio/geographies-of-risk-podcast/#S2E7 |
| Description | Anthropology Seminar, University of St Andrews (Title: 'Centring Caribbean Worlds Amidst Climate Chaos: Dominica, Hurricane Maria and World Capitalist Ecology') |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | - Invited seminar paper presentation at the university of St Andrews, Scotland - Sparked questions and discussions amongst a rich inter-disciplinary audience of students and colleagues from development studies, to literature and to anthropology from across the university - Audience had an international reach from Caribbeanist, to Brazilian and Africanist scholars. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Black Geogrpahers Podcast - 'A new approach to mapping risk and resilience' with (PI) Dr Adom Philogene Heron and (RA) Gabrielle Abraham |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We -(PI) Dr Adom Philogene Heron and (RA) Gabrielle Abraham- were invited to appear on Black Geographers podcast - a public platform 'Supporting the next generation of black geographers and geoscientists' to find pathways into geography and cognate disciplines. - 136 people viewed the video on their BGs' channel - and it lead to a collaboration with ESRI in which they granted Gabrielle a free community license to use their software in Map Making for the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.blackgeographers.com/blogs/news/a-new-approach-to-mapping-risk-and-resilience-caribbean-... |
| Description | Dominica Book Launch, Still Standing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Book Launch for still standing book. Engagement with members of the Dominican public as well as architecture and heritage professionals |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/CCCproject767/status/1605183556690407424?s=20 |
| Description | Dominica Public Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Final Project Symposium, Roseau Dominica - series of panels showcasing each of the 6 CCC workstreams a diverse audience - included project collaborators presenting work with wide range of constituencies represented from scholarship, public, non-gov and private institutions, media etc, included international attendees and project members from UK, US, Jamaica and Dominica (symposium host country) - student round tables, films and mapping work was shared |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/2022/09/23/mgis-2022-symposium-report-dominica-well-on-the-road-to-recov... |
| Description | EmoNEWS Press Release for Film 'A Road to Repair: Petite Savanne Koudmen' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Press release for film A Road to Repair: Petite Savanne Koudmen - about a cooperative self help group building a road to their village (famed for growing bay leaf and distilling bay oil) after the 18 lives were lost to landslides and the village declared abandoned after Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 - article has been viewed 522 times - many learned from the survival practices of restoring their road as a means of keeping their remote village and the work of their ancestors alive - the film has been viewed 1,638 times on youtube |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://emonewsdm.com/a-road-to-repair-petite-savanne-koudmen-a-short-film/ |
| Description | Facebook account launched |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Facebook page launched early 2021 - nearly 500 people reached through the page - mainly as space to post research Outputs from CCC youtube channel - Facebook most used platform in Dominica hence significant engagment |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingstormsCCCproject767/ |
| Description | Grant workshop - Dominica National Youth Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Lead a workshop aimed at enhancing audience's grant writing skills. - positive feedback from participants saying it would build their capacity to attract future grants - Invited by rotary club to deliver an additional grant writing club - Work shop was recorded and available to all who work with the Youth Council seeking support for writing grant applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://b-m.facebook.com/watch/?v=734430294110050&_rdr |
| Description | Inaugural Project Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This event was intended to launch the CCC Project raising awareness of the project amongst key stakeholders and enable them to contribute to its shape and scope of during the early stages of fieldwork. The following was made possible as a result of this event: - increase awareness of water management techniques amount practitioners from forestry, mister of argicuuiture and village councils - Enhanced awareness of community disaster management practices - increased collaboration between project team key stakeholders who shaped projects directions and increased the project network - Future collaboration with Climate Resistant Execution Agency of Dominica CREAD - Presentation experience for interns - Short film of launch event |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/workshops/surviving-storms-ccc-inaugural-symposium/ |
| Description | Instagram Account Launched |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Instagram has proved to be a rich medium through which we have been able to share outputs with younger Dominicans and wider Caribbean and Northern networks - we have over 250 followers to date - to mark the end of 2021 Hurricane Season and the COP 26 talks in Glasgow we used the platform to release a series of survivor stories - of pain, hope, healing, survival strategies - as an invitation to learn from those facing sea level rise and intensified hurricanes as a result of global warming - the films were released in short form on insta and linked back to youtube to maximise their visibility and impact as accessible learning tools |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.instagram.com/cccproject767/ |
| Description | Keynote Lecture, Anthropology in London Conference, University College London (Title: Of Chaos, Calm and Anthropological Praxis) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | - Opening keynote address to a national conference of 300 colleagues and students on the relationship between anthropology and 'turbulence' - Keynote Lecture, Anthropology in London Conference, University College London (Title: Of Chaos, Calm and Anthropological Praxis) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Press Release on Dominica News Online - to mark launch of Dominica Story Project films |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Press Release to mark release of Dominica Story Project films made by student interns in Dominica - A means of ensuring impact of stories to promote informed ecological citizenship, - to share lessons learned thus promoting safety in future disaster events - and promote mental wellbeing in though the release of telling one's story and healing |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/surviving-storms-loubiere-stories/ |
| Description | Project Website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Launch of project website as archive of project outputs, for tracking fieldwork activities and holder of interactive map Members of the Dominican public, postgrad students and colleagues have repeatedly reached out through the contact page on the website to ask for more information |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/ |
| Description | Pubic announcement / press release / Goldsmiths News via Gold.ac.uk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Mapping hurricane recoveries in a warming world Anthropology, Visual Cultures Article Written by Sarah Cox Published on 29 May 2020 A new Goldsmiths, University of London project will map hurricane adaptations, survivals and recoveries in the Caribbean, creating a resource to help mitigate future disasters. Led by Dr Adom Philogene Heron (Department of Anthropology), Caribbean Cyclone Cartography (CCC) researchers will collaborate with communities based in Dominica (Eastern Caribbean) to collect oral histories of hurricane recoveries, which could help influence future disaster response efforts. Combined with post-storm ethnography and hazard mapping, the project will develop an understanding of what hurricane 'resilience' might mean to Dominicans now and in the future, as rising sea temperatures produce ever-intensified storms. The team is based across Goldsmiths, University of London, Mona GIS Institute, University of the West Indies, Jamaica and Create Caribbean Institute in Dominica - where fieldwork and project events are scheduled throughout 2021. On the 18 September 2017, Dominica was devastated by category 5 Hurricane Maria. Lives were lost, families traumatised, and homes and livelihoods destroyed. Approximately 90% of the island's buildings were damaged or destroyed, costing an estimated US$1.3 billion or 226% of Dominica's GDP. Months later the Dominican government vowed, with World Bank, Clinton Foundation and UN support, to make the country the world's first 'climate resilient nation' - aiming to strengthen emergency response systems, infrastructure, housing and tourism facilities. But despite these high-level goals, little is publicly known about how everyday Dominicans prepared for, survived and reassembled their lives after Maria and earlier storms. Nor is there a public record of how citizens understand the hazards embedded in their mountainous landscape (such as landslides, sea surges and flooding). The CCC research team will develop collaborative methodologies to explore people's lived understanding of, and questions concerning, the resilience agenda. The project will develop methods that enable a deeper questioning: of how Dominican families survived historic hurricanes; how colonial and post-colonial inequities shape communities' exposure to hazards; how the island's creole wooden buildings have been able to withstand countless storms; how Dominican visual artists turned their practice towards collective healing in the wake of Maria; and how local farmers are adapting their planting practices in pursuit of food sovereign futures. CCC intends to create a public online map of Dominica that will stand as an archive of historic and recent storm recoveries, as well as identify hazard sites and shelters to mitigate future storm hazards. Other project outputs include a Cyclone Conversations podcast, farmer knowledge exchange workshops, a visual arts exhibition and a series of Dominica-based symposia designed to bring project participants and collaborators into conversation with national and regional experts. Dr Adom Philogene Heron, Lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmiths, said: "We are delighted to get to work on a project that is many years in the making. Long after the camera crews and NGOS have left the island, and as most people continue along a steep path of repair, we hope that CCC can create spaces where Dominicans can document, reflect on and explore the various ways people make life in the face of past and future storms. "Our research team members are either born in or have roots in the Caribbean, and we share a commitment to cooperatively produced research - towards healing, vernacular knowledge sharing and more egalitarian post-disaster recoveries. We are both excited and thankful for the opportunity to begin this work." CCC is a three-year UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project led by Dr Philogene Heron, with co-investigator Dr Nishat Awan, an architect based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, and project manager and sociology PhD candidate Annabel Wilson. The all-Caribbean investigative team is made up sociologist Dr Cecilia Green (Syracuse University), literary scholar Dr Schuyler Esprit (UWI & Create Caribbean), oceanographer Dr Ava Maxam (MGI, UWI) and disaster science and management PhD candidate Farah Nibbs (Delaware University). Find out more via UK Research and Innovation Our world renowned experts Dr Adom Philogene Heron Adom's work concerns questions of gender, kinship, the life-course and hurricanes in the Caribbean. Dr. Nishat Awan Nishat's work explores contemporary border regimes and migration with a focus on modes of visual and spatial representation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.gold.ac.uk/news/caribbean-cyclone-cartography-/ |
| Description | Research Podcast: Reflections on Crises |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | - Interviewed for a department supported podcast, hosted and curated by PhD students and Research Administrators - Intended purpose is for sharing with PG, UG and wider academic communities to explore the intersections of disasters - thinking the composite effects of the Covid Pandemic and the long aftermath/cyclical anticipation of Hurricanes - a collaboration with co-investigator Dr Schuyler Esprit |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.gold.ac.uk/anthropology/research/staff/research-podcast-reflections-on-crises/ |
| Description | Still Standing [book] RIBA Journal Review |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prestigious international architecture journal RIBA reviewed our book, Still Standing, on their website |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.ribaj.com/culture/review-book-still-standing-ti-kais-houses-dominica |
| Description | TDN Radio Podcast - 'Surviving Storms: Documenting the history and impact of hurricanes in Dominica' - with Dr Simone Mathieu |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited to participate in a radio broadcast to a US-based Caribbean Diasporic Radio Show - aired live on facebook, multiple replays on national Domincan station Kairi FM and available via Spotify. To coincide with anniversaries of Hurricane David and Tropical Storm Erika - discussing the project alongside local ODA country based research collaborators. Sparked further discussions and contacts who sought to learn more about project. We promoted the enhancement of informed ecological citizenship by sharing knowledge of survivals, had some therapeutic benefit promoting survivor wellbeing - able to share experiences and memories - and offered international broadcast experience for student intern participating, thus enhancing her future career prospects and access to economic opportunities. . Public response to project goals, findings and lessons learned has been incredible. Many asked for further info and felt better informed after participating. 2,100 views on facebook - https://es-es.facebook.com/pushpast10/videos/surviving-storms-your-stories-your-experiences-your-contributions/173560548222842/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YFqrWbwhmjQXv7vWGboyC?si=dIi876erS5GPMwSf7VZSQw |
| Description | Twitter Account Launched |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Surviving Storms | CCC project twitter launched - 157 followers to date - all youtube, instagram and website content shred via this platform to spread reach of content - substantial ODA country traction from across Caribbean region - substantial international scholarly engagement |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/CCCproject767 |
| Description | UK Book Launch, Still Standing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Book Launch for still standing book. Engagement with members of the Dominican and wider Caribbean diasporas of the UK as well as Caribbean studies colleagues and architecture and heritage professionals |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/papillotepress/status/1584632932534476801?s=20 |
| Description | UK Final Project Symposium (Goldsmiths University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Final project symposium - showcasing 6 x work package findings, co-productions and other outputs - with diverse international audience engagement - in person and via live stream |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://survivingstorms.com/2022/12/06/surviving-storms-ccc-uk-symposium-2022-goldsmiths/ |
| Description | Youtube Channel - Launched early 2021 - over 10k views so far |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Launched Youtube Channel in Early 2021 - to date we have had over 10,000 views of our various interviews and films - feedback from comments suggests much learned about personal and community patterns of hurricane survival |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8jR9NSNq-cFbLHSThOWRZg/about |