Uncovering the impacts of glacier change on livelihoods and social justice for Himalayan mountain communities

Glaciers are a crucial indicator for the magnitude of climate change.

Although Earth system science has shown the scale of cryospheric change using remote sensing, there is a lack of social science research that examines how retreating glaciers impact, and are understood by  societies.This project takes a first step towards a social science research by bringing livelihoods framework and social justice approach together to study social, cultural and material dimensions of glacier retreat through a multiple case study of Himalayan mountain communities.

This three year project´s aim is pursued through three tightly linked analytical steps: 1) examining and mapping local experiences of glacier change 2) examining the effects of retreating glaciers on livelihoods such as agriculture, tourism and energy production as well as food and water security 3) synthesizing these findings from a social justice perspective.

We use multi-methods approach highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of this project by combining participatory geographical information systems, interviews, focus groups and survey in three different field sites.