The Krushna Chandra Jena Chilika-V2V Field School
The V2V Global Partnership organizes every year the Chilika-V2V Field School on Environmental Changes and Governance which take place in Satapada on Chilika Lagoon, Odisha, India. The weeklong field school brings together a selected group of graduate students and early-career researchers/professionals from academia, government, NGO, and coastal communities.
Chilika-V2V Field School 2023
The Chilika-V2V Field School 2023 centered around the theme of "Blue (In)justice" within the context of the global Blue Economy/Blue Growth initiatives. The concept of Blue (In)justice has gained prominence as coastal communities worldwide grapple with the implications of unchecked Blue Economy/Blue Growth agendas. It underscores the critical issues of fairness and equity stemming from historical and ongoing practices that hinder the viability of these communities while increasing their vulnerability.
The field school convened a diverse group of approximately 35 graduate students and early-career professionals from academia, government, NGOs, and coastal communities. Held in the heart of Asia's largest lagoon system – the Chilika lagoon - the program offered a unique blend of classroom teachings and hands-on field training. Participants had the opportunity to gain firsthand experience and explore novel, transdisciplinary, and problem-oriented concepts and approaches aimed at achieving a just transition from vulnerability to viability within aquatic social-ecological systems.
Chilika-V2V Field School 2022
Chilika-V2V Field School 2022 on Environmental Change and Governance took place in person after a 2-year gap due to Covid-19 Pandemic. The theme of this Field School was Transitioning from Vulnerability to Viability in Fisheries Social-Ecological Systems and it took place in Satapada on Chilika Lagoon, Odisha, India. The weeklong field school brought together a selected group of graduate students and early-career researchers / professionals from the academia, government, NGO, and coastal communities.
On the last day of the Field School, a policy workshop took place with the fisher communities of Chilika, who presented their perspectives to the participants on transitioning from vulnerability to viability and shared experiences on responses to COVID-19. The workshop was followed by the working groups of Field School participants reporting back their key learnings, reflections and experiences of being in Chilika to the community members. At the end of the workshop, ‘Certificates of Participation’ were presented by the community leaders to the Field School participants.
Chilika-V2V Field School 2021
The Virtual Chilika-V2V Field School 2021 centered around the rapid social and biophysical changes confronting coastal communities (e.g., with livelihoods, property rights physical and mental health, biodiversity, water and habitat quality, and climate variability) are in many respects unprecedented under pressures from COVID19. The resulting implications for coastal sustainability and development, i.e., the resilience and wellbeing of coastal communities and the coastal ecosystems upon which they depend, are profound. We urgently need to consider if and how coastal communities are prepared to respond and adapt to rapid social-ecological changes amidst the ongoing impacts from the pandemic, and to craft governance responses that foster deliberate transformations and help to build sustainable coastal social-ecological systems.
This online field school included a creative mix of short lectures, roundtables and expert panels, discussion forums, video interactions with fishing communities from Chilika Lagoon in India, along with a basket of written, recorded audio and video reference materials for use by the participants.
