This multidisciplinary project is led by Prof Pauline Dixon from the School of Education, Communication and Language (Newcastle University), and is studying social and technical approaches to improve the quality of life in slum communities in India. The focus of the work is threefold.
- Examines how the absence of education, health care, water, sanitation, waste management and transportation infrastructure (i.e., basic services) impacts employment and enterprise within different types of informal settlements. The project will especially focus on youth, women, and migrants.
- Investigates how communities overcome the absence of basic quality service provision by providing services themselves through community and private means or by developing approaches to enterprise and employment that circumvent the need for formal provision.
- Promote the wider adoption of better practice in terms of the provision of basic services and infrastructure including provision by the private sector and the community itself.
Among other contributions, our group will assist in a) mapping of transport infrastructure and environmental conditions (e.g., air, water and wastes) to consider the effect on entrepreneurial freedom and sustainability livelihoods; b) identifying and interpreting water and sanitation availability; and c) qualifying different infectious disease exposures via water, wastewater and food.
Academic staff: Prof Pauline Dixon (PI, School of Education, Communication and Language (ECLS)), Prof David Graham (School of Engineering), Dr Steve Humble (ECLS), & Professor Karen Ross (School of Arts and Cultures)
Researchers: Dr Myra Giesen (School of Engineering) and Dr Kelly Jobling (School of Engineering)
Contact: david.graham@newcastle.ac.uk
Sponsor: Rising Tide Foundation
Partners: Kings College London, St Mary’s University, the Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE), Indus Information Initiatives, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD)
Start Date: 2021
End Date: 2024