Uncertain Tides, Shifting Shores and Lives: Women at the Edge of Rising Seas
- SMARTS Center
- Mar 25
- 1 min read
On March 25, 2026, SMARTS Center and the Faculty of Public Policy and Sustainable Development (FPSD) co-organised a talk by Ms. Shulagna Pal, who presented her doctoral project: ‘’In the Interstices of Religion, Social Marginality and Climate Change: A Study of Environmental Impacts on Women from Glocal Communities and Transregional Border Scapes in the Indo-Pacific Region’’. Through a mixed-methods approach, she aims to trace how climate-induced displacements reshape gender roles, religious identities, and everyday survival strategies, especially the agency of women negotiating uncertainty in spaces marked by systemic neglect and overlapping crises.
In relation to this highly vulnerable and sensitive context, the ethics of research were discussed, leading to thoughtful exchanges and sharing of insights and research experiences from among the SMARTS members on the subject.
Key takeaways:
🌊 Women are adapting to daily and lived climate impacts through nature-based and locally driven knowledge and solutions for their communities, such as creating plant nurseries, selling locally made products, beekeeping, and leading mangrove restoration efforts.
❗Researchers must consider more than their research objectives. Plan for research ethics and contextual sensitivities, accounting for power relations, gender roles, culture, and norms to mitigate risks and prepare for unforeseen challenges to the participants, their communities, and the researchers themselves.
Click here for more information on Ms. Shulagna Pal and her work:
Click here for SMARTS publication on gender and climate:
Abishek Das
Firuz Ahmed Nahid
Joyashree Roy
Joyee S Chatterjee
Nyi Min Satt Naing
Pooja Sankhyayan
Prathana Panwar
Sirayuth Thongprasert
