Social Science Baha

Projects

Expertise, Labour and Mobility in Nepal’s Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Collaborating Partner : The University of British Columbia (UBC)

This study aimed to understand the socio-political effects of Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes and post-earthquake reconstruction. The main objectives were: 1) To build an international network of scholars, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations focusing on post-earthquake reconstruction and social transformation in Nepal, with strong nodes in Canada, Nepal, and Denmark (with the Danish connection furnishing links to the Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research); 2) To collaboratively develop and deploy mixed ethnographic and survey methods through three pilot research projects in selected earthquake-affected areas of rural and peri-urban Nepal where team members have existing relationships. These focused on three domains of expertise critical to post-conflict and post-disaster transformation: construction (engineers, architects, and traditional builders); law (politicians, civil servants, and lawyers); and finance (bankers, corporate investors, and microfinance/cooperative fund managers); 3) to enhance training and research capacity in Canada and Nepal, with an emphasis on field-based methods; 4) to build foundations for a larger Partnership Grant application to investigate and improve post-disaster reconstruction in mountainous regions with a focus on the trans-Himalayan region, using a framework that addresses both Connection and Insight approaches.