Mapping to understand socio-ecological phenomena in the place

Course Brief

Abstract

One crosses the growing city in the south and into sudden open lands, farmlands and into villages — now regions within the city and regions that the city is expanding into. The Mangarwada - Jungle Koyi - Halladhkeri transect lies within one of the primary drains heading out of Bidar city. We have walked through parts of these regions while mapping wells and water systems in the district. This workshop will explore the socioecological system of this transect in with maps as a tool, guide and an artefact that documents observations, and communicates the entangled nature of these systems.

Learners will be bringing their own practice: of creative writing, of visual media, or of digital media or any related practice into a spatial domain, meaning that they will explore the emergence of a mixed and interdisciplinary form, of the map and of their own practice. This course will be relevant for all those who work across disciplines in the intersection of the urban, the non-human world, and the human interaction with it. The map will be read, made, critiqued, communicated and used in both a physical and digital form, as we understand one particular system in Bidar. We will be walking, talking and engaging with the system on the field as we use the map to document and observe.

Key words

Socio Ecological Systems, Urbanisation, Community Histories, Urban ecology, Spatial Mapping

Course objective

Our work in the Climate Resource Center has been transdisciplinary and across domains of enquiry. Conversations within the CRC contain a lot of this enquiry in a spatial form. At the root, the places, neighbourhoods, regions and villages, and transects that the CRC works in are all spatial in one way or another. That is not to say they are solely geographic when we mean spatial, but to say they are located with reference to one another. Water flows in seemingly magical ways with reference to the geography and development. People remember time and memory with reference to a place, or an event. The objective of this workshop is to use the ‘map’ either cartographic, or of memory, or of time as a field instrument to understand the socio-ecological system of the transect - the Mangarwada - Jungle Koyi - Halladhkeri stream.

Learning Outcomes

• Bring ones’ existing practise: of writing, of sketching, of working with oral histories, of working with multimedia and mixing them together in a spatial medium. This holds exciting possibilities.

• Understand and use maps beyond cartographic and geographic ones

• Leverage Spatial Map making tools techniques to composite their work into spatial information: QGIS, Map platforms, and other Software tools

• Bring together spatial information

Learning modes

• The learners will use their existing practices: Field journaling (Sketching, Creative writing) with Multimedia (Soundmap, Photo/Video), or Sampling and artifacts (Herbarium, Imprints) as an everyday practice.

• Fieldjournals will be supplemented with the use of spatial maps that inform and merge with their field journal

• Walking, Talking, Oralhistories (Microhistories, Oralhistories). Group discussions will be everyday field activities

• Mapping (Timelines, Memory Maps, Taste and Smell, Hand Drawn Maps) and other forms will emerge as the final outcome(s)

• The learners will engage in groups

What you bring?

• Interest in oral histories, ecological systems, anthropological studies, communities, urban ecologies

• The learners will have to be comfortable with one of these practices: creative writing, of sketching/working with drawn media, of multimedia (with sound, visual or a/v). They could

• The learners will have to walk long distances in one day as we cover one system.

• They will have to carry a journal to document in written form and a phone that will act as their digital documentation aid for audio.

• Conversations will happen in Dhakkani, Kannada, Hindi and English while in the field. The learners will also need shoes and fieldwork-wear.

• Ability to listen, engage respectfully, and collaborate.

• 21 years and above

• Learners are encouraged to bring their own creative, technical, research, or community-based practices into the course.
  

What will you make?

Within the workshop, we will be practicing regular spatial journalling in the form of writing, drawing, imprinting and listening to oral histories. The journals from everyday will come together to be composited at various points to be maps of various kinds. By the end of the workshop there will be multiple outcomes that will emerge:

• Field journals and reflective notes

• Digital and Analog Thematic maps made by learners in groups based off of the field journals

• A gallery of the final maps will be published on Untold.Town, our place based journal.

Course Fee

Fee Summary

Our course fees vary based on the total Notional Learning Hours (NLH). When you view a course description, you'll see a transparent breakdown of costs which reflects the unique structure and requirements of that particular learning experience. The published cost calculation below gives you clarity on what's included in your fees. As more learners join a course, we may adjust the per-person cost accordingly. We track all expenditures carefully against our initial estimates to ensure resources are used effectively for your learning journey. For more information please look at FAQ page.

Course fees includes:

1. Facilitator compensation - Rs. 5600*

2. Community facilitator compensation - Rs. 1400*

3. Materials & Supply - Rs. 3500**

4. Support and Sustenance - Rs. 3500****

5. GST @ 18% - Rs. 1512*****

Total Fee per learner is Rs.16520 (Rupees Nine Thousand and Ninty Two Only)

*In a workshop upto 80% of the NLH is compensated for our Fellow course facilitators co-designing, facilitating and managing the entire course.
**In workshop upto 20% of the NLH is compensated for learning support by our community collaborator via mentoring, maintaining, weaving, storytelling, guiding and so on.
***Cost towards any materials and supplies required during the coursework sessions. Please see the coursework for full list of materials covered in the cost.
****This amount will be utilised for extending financial support to learners who seek support (details are available in the application form). Any surplus will be added to the corpus for the sustenance of LLI.
*****Our fiscal host for Trimester 02 is Aruvu LLP. As per the IT rules a GST of 18% will be charged on the fee collected for the course.

Fee does not include

• Travel costs are not included.

• Cost of accommodation is not included in the fees. We can support the learners to find hotel accommodation. Typically we recommend 2-3 learners sharing a room to reduce the expenses. The hotel accommodation will cost Rs.750/night on a triple sharing basis.

• Cost of any equipment or other specific materials relevant to Learner’s practice. We recommend the learners to carry any specialised equipments or materials with them.

• Food and local commute is not included in the fees. The cost towards the same may be approx Rs.750 per day.