Next Pardee Center Seminar Set for Wednesday, February 25

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE — This seminar will take place at the Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road instead of the Pardee Center. If you plan to attend, please make a note of this.

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future is pleased to announce a Pardee House Seminar titled “Climate Change & Contingent Adaptation: Strategies for South Asian Mega-Cities.” The seminar will be held at the Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road, on Wednesday, February 25, 2015 from 12-1:30p.m. (lunch will be available starting at 11:30a.m.). Seating is limited and advance registration is required by Friday, February 20th. Click here to register.

Madhu Dutta-Koehler (Metropolitan College, Boston University) will discuss how resource-constrained Asian mega-cities can prepare for climate change. In these cities, almost two billion urban dwellers are faced with escalating risks from the environmental, economic, and societal impacts arising from unsustainable development patterns. In her talk, Dutta-Koehler will draw on the theories of “adaptation as development” and cross-case analyses of ongoing planning initiatives in the water sector of two bellwether cities, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Kolkata, India. She will explore the factors that promote or hinder successful climate action while identifying practical, less resource-intensive adaptation strategies suited to the context of urban South Asia.

This event was webcast and is available here.

Oct22Seminar_FinalPanelSpeaker Biography

Madhu Dutta-Koehler has more than 15 years of experience in the field of urban planning and architecture, both as an educator and practitioner. In addition to having her own architectural practice, she is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University. She previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas and the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston. Professionally, Dutta-Koehler has worked on various international design competitions and award-winning projects, which have been recognized by the World Habitat Award, Indian Institute of Architects’ Award, American Institute of Architects, U.S. Department of Energy, and others. She  challenges  her students to explore critical aspects of the built environment, both from a creative and a policy-oriented perspective.  While her recent work and teaching focuses on climate change adaptation in urban South Asia and sustainability in the built environment, she is also interested in exploring the hybridized and virtual milieus in the “new frontiers” of digital architecture over the years. Dutta-Koehler has bachelor and master degrees in architecture, as well as a Ph.D. in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.