YCAR is pleased to participate in York’s the first-ever Climate Change Research Month. In March, York’s Organized Research Units (ORUs), which are synergistic hubs that stimulate interdisciplinary and collaborative research around a range of topics, will be hosting dozen events, films and panels aimed at generating awareness of climate change research. Each of the events demonstrate how climate change impacts every facet of life—including child development, mental health, faith, employment, equity and the economy. The events are open to the public. To learn more, click here.

“By collaborating, the ORUs, including the York Centre for Asian Research, aim to bring together York University researchers with scholars and artists from across Canada and the world to showcase innovative research solutions, while generating awareness of and mobilizing action for climate change,” adds Abidin Kusno, YCAR Director and professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change. 

Thinking like an Archipelago: Design and Spatial Practice for Climate Change Adaptation in Indonesia is YCAR’s contribution to the month’s activities. It is organized by Professor Kusno and features Research Associate Teti Argo (Institute of Technology Bandung) and Nashin Mahtani (Yayasan Peta Bencana [Disaster Map Indonesia]). In the wake of the failure of talks at COP 26, scholars and activists have taken grassroots actions to build for communities an alternative infrastructure they need for climate change adaptation.

This talk presents a discussion about what we can learn from the local residential knowledges of residing alongside rivers in Jakarta; how the residents develop their own sense of risk and coping mechanism in and through social media; how they work at the local level with scholars, designers and activists to provide a shared structure of knowledge and practice below the formal system of adaptation and mitigation plan.

Register for the event at: https://yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_l-_1qkBBTiOEQX9C6ZiOUQ.