Objective The present times are haunted by a sense of vulnerability in the face of major environmental disasters and global climate change. Whatever course and speed the current changes may accrue, their effects on the human world are already manifest. People suffer from a loss of habitual natural resources, from fear of an increasingly unpredictable nature, and from social disruptions as natural habitats are destroyed. Water is the most vital natural resource; it is the sine qua non of human life, and the idea of the present project is to study local, social responses to environmental disasters related to water. They are the melting of ice in the Arctic and in other glacier areas, the rising of seas that flood islands and coastal communities, and the drying of lands accelerating desertification in large parts of Africa and elsewhere. The ambition is to contribute to a renewed theory of social resilience that builds on the actualities of social life in distinct localities, and on human agency as the basis for people s quest for certainty. The proposed research is groundbreaking empirically as well as theoretically. Empirically it contributes a substantial ethnographic supplement to the sweeping diagnoses of the global malaises captured in notions like global warming . Theoretically, the project will allow for a new, general understanding of the effects of environmental disaster on social life, and of the responsibility that people take locally to ensure the survival of their community. New concepts will be developed to facilitate interdisciplinary research and worldwide dialogue. The larger vision is to rethink the human implications of climate change in the wider world, including Europe, by way of an explication of what is and what can be done on the ground. Technologies are useful, but the human and social potential is vital in long-term adaptation to new environmental realities. Frontier research as proposed here will show how. Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Keywords Agency Global warming Local strategies of adaptation Risk adversity Social resilience Vulnerability Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-AG-SH2 - ERC Advanced Grant - Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour Call for proposal ERC-2008-AdG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Host institution KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET EU contribution € 2 979 882,00 Address NORREGADE 10 1165 Kobenhavn Denmark See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Kirsten Hastrup (Prof.) Administrative Contact Poul Petersen (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET Denmark EU contribution € 2 979 882,00 Address NORREGADE 10 1165 Kobenhavn See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Principal investigator Kirsten Hastrup (Prof.) Administrative Contact Poul Petersen (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data