PDRI 2014 - workshop on Placemaking in displacement: Recovery Indigenous

In between different modalities of representing time and space, the place-based indigenous communities often struggle to maintain their inhabitance and collective use of the natural resource base, which is integral to cultural identity, in times when talks of climate change and disaster mitigation/prevention dominates knowledge and practices of land use and managing territories. Relocation, in the name of modernization and safety, has occurred to the indigenous communities over the past century. The degree to which loss and displacement have been normalized, nevertheless, found echo in cases of post-disaster reconstruction when relocation is seen as a necessary measure to improve the people’s livelihood. How to cope with displacement becomes a lasting issue challenging the indigenous communities in general and the victims of disasters in particular. Searching for ways to nurture sense of ownership collectively, in the light, becomes a key for the displaced communities to terms with the threatening connection between indigenous communities and places. Meanwhile, approaching placemaking in displacement can often turn crisis into critical opportunities for the impacted communities to recover the disappearing commons in coping with issues of ecological democracy, food autonomy, cultural diversity, alternative economics, cross-culture communication, etc. Creative practices can often bring together people across ethnicities to reclaim their ownership to the new places, which are what we expect to learn from the participants of this workshop. We invite presentations that explore alternative ways to cope with displacement through placemaking. Both theoretical projects and stories of practices are welcome.
The workshop will be held in Rinari, a village constructed in 2010 in Southern Taiwan to relocate more than 500 households displaced by the 2009 typhoon Morakot. As one of the most noted recovery cases, the village is currently co-inhabited by three tribes, including Rukai and Paiwan. Among others, NTU Building and Planning Research Foundation has continuously contributed to some of the post-disaster recovery actions which reflect important concerns about indigenous cultural recovery here. We expect participants who can share comparable experiences with us. The participants will experience community-based homestay program and have a chance to discuss the ongoing recovery effort with the local communities.
Presentation may address but not limited to the following issues:
■ Placemaking in displacement: challenges and opportunities
■ Changing sense of ownership in post-disaster reconstruction
■ Cross-culture learning in coping with displacement
■ Alternative economies in coping with displacement