Indigenous Communities, Climate Change and Cooperation : Perspectives from Global Experiences

WEBINAIRE

Organized as part of the Bangladesh Sundarbans FEF (Fonds Équipe France) programme.

The aim of this online seminar is to create a space for exchange between university students, activists, and architects on questions related to experiences of architectural co-production in contexts of vulnerability. It takes place within the framework of cooperative work between residents of the Satkhira region in Bangladesh, members of civil society, academic institutions, and architectural professionals. The project’s proposals aim to develop modes of public-social intervention in the co-production of adaptive architectures in response to climate change.

This project pursues three objectives :
 Document the ways of life of native populations living in areas highly exposed to climate change and its consequences.
 Support populations in producing local responses to the effects of climate change.
 Propose co-construction initiatives and models of cooperation between universities, local actors, and development aid organizations.

The seminar is an opportunity to share proposals from different parts of the world. Focusing on community efforts to address the consequences of climate change on their ways of subsistence, the presentations will highlight various aspects of the co-building process. The main themes are as follows :

1. Practices
Practices concern all stages of a co-construction process : the way the community becomes involved in a project, the urban or rural environment, the chosen materials, the construction techniques, and the participatory design process. This is also an opportunity to analyse and encourage the mobilization of “vernacular” solutions and their further improvement.

2. Ecosystems
The social conditions of the populations, the geographical context of the project, the climatic impact, and the historical development of the communities and territories are significant as material and cultural resources. The political engagement of communities in the process is an important element, as it reflects the project’s capacity to continue after the initial interventions by outside actors.

3. Realization
Every co-construction process presents a social and technical challenge for both communities and the professionals involved. The difficulties that emerge during the process are equally instructive for students. The roles played by different actors and the organization of activities are central to understanding the practical and economic aspects of these interventions. The realization process concerns : community organization, participatory design methods, funding, and the consolidation of partnerships.

4. Learning Process
Finally, every co-construction project is also an encounter between local knowledge and the knowledge of outside professionals. This dialogue of know-how is central to the success of the realization process. How this dialogue is structured, and what difficulties or controversies emerge within the co-construction process, are essential aspects, as they help situate these projects within a long-term perspective.

The webinar is an extracurricular activity for architecture students at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), BRAC University (Bangladesh), ENSA Paris-La Villette (Paris), and Bharati Vidyapeeth’s College of Architecture (BVCOA, Navi Mumbai, India).

The seminar will be held online every Friday in October and November, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm (UTC+6, Dhaka time). Registration with this link : https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xomCbN6bTFC-2rArytSYSg#/registration