Deepika Rawat
Deepika is a PlanAdapt Fellow, based in Hamburg, Germany.
Deepika is currently a Ph.D. Researcher at the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute of Geography, University of Hamburg, Germany, doing research on climate adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in marginal systems. Using mixed research methodologies such as statistical, geospatial, and participatory appraisal techniques, her research focuses on analyzing climate change impacts, assessing climate change perceptions, and exploring sustainable livelihood strategies for Indigenous communities in high Himalayan regions as a means of community-led adaptation to climate change.
She is particularly interested in community-led climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, sustainable tourism research, social entrepreneurship, rural development, sustainable livelihoods, stakeholder engagement, environmental justice, scientific storytelling, climate education, policy and governance.
Previously, she has worked in the NGO sector in the field of children’s education, youth leadership, and natural resource management. As an Associate with the Azim Premji Foundation, she worked towards teachers’ capacity building and research on issues related to classroom and teaching-learning processes for improvization of the government education system in rural India. For a project on agricultural residue burning, as a Research Intern, she assisted with project implementation, geospatial data processing, mapping, and analysis at Centres For International Projects Trust-CIPT, Columbia Water Centre (India office). Apart from that, she has worked and volunteered with youth development and socio-environmental grassroots organizations in India such as PRAVAH and GVNML as well as in a creative collaborative community project associated with EIT Climate-KIC.
She has received a certificate of Excellence from my host institutions Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the University of Helsinki (Finland) at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, Climate-KIC 2020 summer school, the world’s largest climate innovation summer school for climate action, innovation, systems transformation, community building, and collaborative learning.
Additionally, she is a published author with Springer’s Sustainable Development Goals book series ‘Mountain Landscapes in Transition: Effects of Land Use and Climate Change’ that essentially evaluates developments in mountains of the world with contributions from both social and natural sciences. Her publication is: Rawat, D., Schickhoff, U. (2022). Changing Climate Scenario in High Altitude Regions: Comparison of Observed Trends and Perceptions of Agro-Pastoralists in Darma Valley, Uttarakhand, India.
Much recently, she was also a member of an international team comprising of CEOs of Fortune 500 businesses, researchers, start-ups, changemakers, governments, and leading universities in a climate change expedition to Antarctica with 2041 Foundation and ClimateForce. This carbon-negative expedition was led by Polar Explorer and Environmental Leader, Sir Robert Swan, and aimed to drive sustainable practices and connected learning centered around climate science, education and energy solutions.
Deepika holds a first-class Master’s degree in Geography from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi; and a Bachelor’s (Hons.) degree in Geography from Miranda House, University of Delhi, India. Her Master’s dissertation focussed on the impact assessment of flash floods in the Greater Indian Himalayan whereas her Bachelor’s degree completion projects primarily included urban sprawl analysis of Delhi using GIS methodologies and; (ii) socio-economic analysis of livelihood security in a rural textile town in Central India.
Deepika contributed to PlanAdapt’s work in the following projects and initiatives:
For more information, see Deepika’s LinkedIn page and ResearchGate.