International webinar

Dealing with climate change and disaster risk in informal settings in Latin America and the Caribbean:

Theoretical and practical considerations

Webinar held in English and Spanish


 [+] Date: Tuesday June 29, 9:00 to 12:30 (Eastern Time).
 
Conditions of informality in Latin American cities represent a paradox in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and the fight against climate change effects. On the one hand, informal settlements, economic activities, and citizens living in conditions of informality (women in particular) are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. On the other hand, informal settlements and neighborhoods of informal origin are constant incubators of innovative solutions led by women, local leaders, and communities. How to deal with climate change effects and risks in conditions of informality? What do we know about the impact of bottom-up solutions on disaster risk reduction? What is the role of women in DRR in conditions of informality?

This seminar addresses these questions and explores theoretical and practical approaches on DRR in Latin American cities. It synthesizes the results of ADAPTO, a four-year project funded by IDRC Canada and devoted to enhancing DRR in Latin America and the Caribbean. The seminar presents the results of innovative bottom-up solutions led by women in Cuba, Colombia, and Chile. It unpacks how climate activism works in informal settlements, and its main challenges and opportunities.

Click here to watch the project videos


 

 [+] Objectives:
 
  1. Explore theoretical and practical approaches to facilitate Disaster Risk Reduction in informal settings in Latin America and the Caribbean.

  2. Present results from IDRC-funded ADAPTO project and identify new research avenues in areas related to food insecurity in the region.

  3. Explore new research avenues and opportunities for collaboration with other stakeholders in the region.

  4. Identify lessons learned in initiatives aimed at improving adaptation to climate change in the region.

 


 [+] Participants:
 
 Unversidad del Valle:  Adriana López and Oswaldo López
 Universidad Javeriana:  Holmes Páez, Julia Diaz R. and Ana Milena González
 Universidad las Villas:  Andrés Olivera and Gonzalo González
 Universidad del Bío Bío:  Roberto Burdiles and Claudio Araneda
 Corp.Antioquia Presente:  Elsa Monsalve and Nicolás Ordoñez
 McGill University:  Lisa Bornstein
 Université d’État d’Haïti  Karine Bouchereau
 Concordia University:  Kevin Gould
 Université de Montréal:  Gonzalo Lizarralde, Benjamín Herazo,
 Anne-Marie Petter, David Smith, Steffen Lajoie
 Keynote speakers:  Roberto Barrios, University of New Orleans, USA
 Sara Latorre, FLACSO, Ecuador
 

 [+] Program:
 


 9:00 to 9:15 Presentation of the webinar and the ADAPTO project Gonzalo Lizarralde (PDF)  
 9:15 to 9:45   Keynote speaker: Roberto Barrios. Disasters Have Never Been Modern: The Challenges of Climate Change Mitigation in Latin America ((PDF) )  
 10:00 to 11:00  Round Table 1
How to produce change on the ground: Presentation of key results from ADAPTO.
Moderated by Lisa Bornstein Panelists: Adriana López (PDF), Elsa Monsalve, Gonzalo González (PDF) and Holmes Páez (PDF)		  
 11:15 to 12:15 Round table 2
A feminist perspective of Disaster Risk Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Moderated by Gonzalo Lizarralde
Panelists: Sara Latorre (PDF) y Elsa Monsalve 		 
 12:15 to 12:30  Synthesis: from theory to practice in disaster risk reduction. Gonzalo Lizarralde  





 [+] Special guests
 
Sara Latorre, holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma Barcelona, Spain. She is currently a visiting professor at FLACSO, Ecuador. Her research interests include environmental justice and the political ecology of climate change, from a post-structuralist and intersectional perspective. She is currently part of the research team of the project "Strengthening the Impact of Healthy Food Consumption in Alternative Food Networks to Confront Chronic Diseases in Ecuador (2021-2024)."



 
Roberto E. Barrios is a sociocultural anthropologist who studies post-disaster reconstruction in Central and North America. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida and is currently Professor of Anthropology at University of New Orleans and director of Doris Zemurray Stone Chair of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. He is the author of Governing Affect: Neoliberalism and Disaster Reconstruction. Presently, he is working on a project on the material, discursive, and political life of climate change in Mexico.



 
www.grif.umontreal.ca/acciones/