Surviving the Floods: vulnerabilities and strategies for resilience
in Tbong Khmom, Cambodia
︎ Tbong Khmom, Cambodia
Completed : August 2020
Graduate thesis, Cornell University
In collaboration with UN-Habitat, Cambodia
Final Report Link ︎︎︎
This project began as an internship with the UN-Habitat in Cambodia in the summer of 2019, where I worked with a small local team on the “Build Back Better” project. The work was based in a regularly flooded region of Cambodia-Tbong Khmom, facing the Mekong river, about 100 kms away from the Capital, Phnom Penh. We attempted to provide disaster-resilient housing to the most poor and vulnerable populations. During the 5-week long fieldwork, I assisted the team in creating participatory maps of housing conducting community workshops for awareness and data gathering ditionally, I also conducted an independent study to assess the overall risks and vulnerabilities of the region, beyond Housing. While my field work revealed several important points, to make my work impactful required further research and analysis. To continue my search for answers, as well as understand the concepts of socio-ecological resilience, vulnerability and disaster mitigation in a more real sense, I continued the project in the form of a research report. I explored the impacts of flooding on a local community, impacts that are exacerbated by the inability of existing systems to manage floodwaters. I found that floods challenge people’s adaptive capaties, and becoming everyday disruptions for them. I finally proposed a new set of approaches to guide risk mitigation planning, initiate substantive action and enhance resilience.
Tbong Khmom’s vulnerable geography
Everyday vulnerabilities : inspire acts of resilience
Collecting observation-based qualitative data, extensive documentation, social surveys
Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
