Workshops in Indian Sundarban Explore the Role of Voluntary Labour in Climate Adaptation and Disaster Response

A workshiop in progress (Matt Baillie Smith)

A series of sense-making workshops with three NGOs were conducted at the beginning of November 2023 in the Indian Sundarban. Led by Sumana Banerjee (Jadavpur University), and Matt Baillie Smith and Janet Clark (Northumbria University), the workshops explored and co-analysed data on the role of voluntary labour in climate adaptation and disaster responses in the Indian Sundarban.

The workshops, attended by 35 research participants and stakeholders (51% women and 49% men) focused on providing opportunities for research participants to explore and analyse the findings and materials produced with members of the research team, shaping how the subsequent analysis is developed and communicated. The focus was on data collected between February and August 2023, which includes over 350 photos, 120 diary entries, and 45 interviews.

The next steps involve distilling key findings from this work based on inputs and feedback received from participants in these workshops and then sharing those with the participants, which is aligned with the iterative nature of co-production.