Cambridge Festival of Ideas
Photography ExhibitionStories of change along the Gandaki River
Himalayas to Ocean (H2O) is the story of communities, climate change, and the transformative power of water. In the shadow of Everest looms the threat of anthropogenic climate change, a force that stands to forever alter the confluence of people and place in the Himalayas. Himalayas to Ocean is a multimedia project and expedition. In September 2017, expedition members set out to trace the role of water from the world’s highest peaks to low-lands valleys through the places and communities most strikingly sculpted by it. Along the way, personal accounts were collected of the communities and cultures experiencing change at the water’s edge. We are an Environmental Change Institute (University of Oxford) affiliated project, and partner with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development...The Flying Civil Servant
Rachel Rowe, is Librarian of the Centre of South Asian Studies and the Royal Commonwealth Society collections in the University of Cambridge Library. Rachel writes here on the archives of Sir Frederick Tymms, RCMS 20, one of the most significant figures in the development of civil aviation, referred to by his biographer, E.A. Johnston, as the ‘Flying Civil Servant’. Tymms served as an Observer in the Royal Flying Corps during WW1, then joined the civil aviation department of the Air Ministry 1920-1927 where he became involved in the development of air routes across Africa and India in the 1920s and 30s. His archives document the difficulties of locating suitable landing strips at regular distances across each continent and the excitement at the opening of new aerodromes. ...An amazing resource for the study of Tibet
Rachel Rowe, is Librarian of the Centre of South Asian Studies and the Royal Commonwealth Society collections in the University of Cambridge Library. Rachel recently discovered an amazing resource for the study of Tibet and reviews here some of the links and content available. The Tibet Album : British photography in Central Tibet, 1920-1950 provides online access to over 6000 digital images of Tibet, together with biographical information on the photographers, maps and access to the collection by date and place. The original photographs are held in the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford) and the British Museum (London) and digitisation project was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/ Tibetan musician (Cambridge University Library, Y3039A/55) The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University holds the Frederick Williamson Collection. Frederick Williamson was...
Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) Research on Glacier and Snowpack Dependent River Basins for Improving Livelihoods
HI-AWARE is one of the four consortia of the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA). It conducts research and pilot interventions, capacity building and policy engagement on climate resilience and adaptation in the mountains and flood plains of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins. http://www.hi-aware.org/ Its overall goal is to contribute to increasing the climate resilience and adaptive capacities of the poor and vulnerable women, men, and children living in these river basins, by using the findings from research and pilot intervention outcomes to influence policy and practice that will improve their livelihoods. HI-AWARE is implementing three Work Packages—Knowledge Generation, Research into Use, and Strengthening Expertise—in 12 sites in the Indus, Upper Ganga, Gandaki and Teesta river basins. The sites...
