Beatrice Ryan
Growing Beyond Trauma: restoring livelihoods and repairing social issues in a disaster prone city through agriculture
About
During times of crises such as war, natural disasters, or pandemics, the existing gender data gaps in various areas are magnified and multiplied. While climate change affects everyone, not everyone is equally vulnerable or has the same capacity to adapt to these impacts. And although men and women suffer from the same trauma, forcible displacement, destruction, injury, and death, women also suffer from female-specific injustices, such as sex trafficking, rape, domestic violence and prostitution. I am intrigued whether agriculture could be a catalyst to addressing the social issues faced by women in the context of a disaster prone city such as Tacloban. Our assumptions of hiding or running away suggests one is enclosed securely, but do we sometimes have to hide in plain sight? Is a door protection enough, or is distance, self-regeneration and empowerment, forms of protection? What is empowerment and how can it be sustained? Since not all women are equally vulnerable, how can the design be suitable for different levels of vulnerability?
Layer 6: the public realm
Layer 1: the core living room
The Organic Strip Strategy: Regenerative Agriculture and Community Development
Our unit this year focuses on designing for displaced people in Tacloban, Philippines, not just in temporary state but in considered social living, livelihood, craft and culture. Through our research, we discovered that agriculture is one of the first sectors to fall after a disaster, and it is declining at a concerning rate. However, several projects over the world have proven that tackling agriculture in the context of a disaster prone city, leads to opportunities that could positively impact communities on a wide scale. Hence, as a group of four, we decided to investigate this sector to understand the extent to which agriculture can contribute to the resiliency of Tacloban. Thank you for watching our video!