Prathijna Poonacha Kodira

Senior Consultant - Director's Office and Practice | ppoonacha at iihs dot ac dot in
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EDUCATION:
2013    MSc (Human Settlements), Katholieke University, Belgium
2007    BArch VTU, Belgaum

 

 

Countries: India, Tanzania, Vietnam, Belgium
States: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat
Cities: Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Badami, Antwerp, Cau Mau
Languages: English, Kannada, Hindi, Coorgi

Prathijna Poonacha Kodira is a researcher and practitioner who works on climate change adaptation focusing broadly on how social and environmental systems respond to impacts of climate change, especially in urban and peri urban geographies.  Specifically, her work looks at livelihood transitions, nature-based solutions as adaptation and the intersection of climate change and the built environment.

 

Prathijna is experienced in enabling and engaging in multi stakeholder processes for dialogue and decision-making using approaches such as Transformative Scenario Planning and Appreciative Inquiry. In the process, she is interested in unpacking the complexity of participatory decision making, especially in the urban context.

 

At IIHS, Prathijna has worked on several large multi-country, multi-partner projects including IDRC/FCDO funded Adaptation at Scale in Semi-arid Regions (ASSAR) (2014-2018), British Academy funded Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture as Green Infrastructure (2019-2022), GIZ and Resilience First funded Summary for Urban Policymakers (2022), and AfD funded Greening Urban Food Systems (2023-2024).

 

In addition, Prathijna is also part of the Director’s Office at IIHS since 2020, working closely with the Director, and contributing to strategic institution building processes and activities.

 

Prior to IIHS, Prathigna has worked as a Consultant with the Habitat Forum (INHAF), and was involved in the evaluation of the impacts and outcomes of JnNURM through a citizen sector perspective. She was a Research Associate at the Centre for Conservation Studies, CEPT, Ahmedabad where as a part of the technical team, she helped prepare the dossier for the nomination of the old city of Ahmedabad to the UNESCO’s World Heritage Cities list. She has also worked as a Design Consultant in her early career, especially in the retail sector in Indian cities.

Practice Projects at IIHS

2023 – 2024Migration as a means for adaptive upward mobility: who is able to thrive and why?
2023 – 2025Greening urban food systems: Building sustainable urban agriculture practices in Bengaluru through nature-based solutions
2021 – 2022Summary for Urban Policymakers of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report
2020 – 2021
  • Assessment Report: Can India achieve a 1.5°C climate target?
  • Delivering on India’s Climate Commitment
2019 – 2022Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture as Green Infrastructure: implications on well-being and sustainability in the Global South (UP-AGrI)
2014 – 2018Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR)

Teaching

Climate science, climate change risks, impacts and vulnerability, climate adaptation, Climate change and the built environment.

 

Training

  • 2016 – Vulnerability Concepts and Methods for 30 learners (government officials, NGO workers, researchers) under ASSAR project.
  • 2018 – Training for NGOs and CSOs on integrating climate change concerns into development projects.

Journal Article

  • Rao, N., Patil, S., Singh, C., Roy, P., Pryor, C., Poonacha, P., & Genes, M. (2022). Cultivating sustainable and healthy cities: A systematic literature review of the outcomes of urban and peri-urban agriculture. Sustainable Cities and Society, 85, Article 104063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104063
  • Singh, C., Patil, S., Poonacha, P., Koduganti, M., & Sharma, S. (2021). When the “field” moves online: Reflections on virtual data collection during COVID-19. Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal, 4(2), 149-157. https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v4i2.414
  • Rao, N., Singh, C., Solomon, D., Camfield, L., Sidiki, R., Angula, M., … Lawson, E. T. (2019). Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India. World development, 125(2020).

 

Books/ Book Chapters

Patil, S., Rao, N., Koduganti, M., Singh, C., Poonacha, P., Sharma, S., Roy, P., Mahalingam, A., & Singh, N. (2023). Sowing sustainable cities: Lessons for urban agriculture practices in India. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/SSC12.2023

 

Other Writing

  • Kiran, A., Mahalingam, A., Singh, C., Mayavel, D., Koduganti, M., Roy, P., Poonacha, P., Patil, S., Sharma, S., & Malladi, T. (2023). An action agenda for urban agriculture in India (Policy Brief).  Indian Institute for Human Settlements.
  • Pillai, A. V., C. Singh., Patil, S., Dalal, T., Ranjit, N., & Poonacha, P. (2023). How is India adapting to heatwaves?: An assessment of heat action plans with insights for transformative climate action (IIHS-CPR Policy Brief). Indian Institute for Human Settlements; Centre for Policy Research. https://doi.org/10.24943/HIAH03.2023
  • Adelekan, I., Cartwright, A., Chow, W., Colenbrander, S., Dawson, R., Garschagen, M., Haasnoot, M., Hashizume, M., Klaus, I., Krishnaswamy, J., Lemos, M. F., Ley, D., McPhearson, T., Pelling, M., Kodira, P. P., Revi, A., Sara, L. M., Simpson, N. P., Singh, C., … Trisos, C. (2022). What the latest science on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability means for cities and urban areas. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/SUPSV209.2022
  • Revi, A., Roberts, D., Klaus, I., Bazaz, A., Krishnaswamy, J., Singh, C., Eichel, A., Kodira, P. P., Seth, S., Adelekan, I., Babiker, M., Bertoldi, P., Cartwright, A., Chow, W., Colenbrander, S., Creutzig, F., Dawson, R., De Coninck, H., De Kleijne, K., … Ürge-Vorsatz, D. (2022). The summary for urban policymakers of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/SUPSV511.2022
  • Kaur, H., Aravind, J., Singh, C., Ajay, S., & Poonacha, P. (2022). Representing covid-19 impacts and responses on indigenous people: A multilingual media review in the Nilgiri Biosphere Region, India. Indian Institute for Human Settlements. https://doi.org/10.24943/NBR12.2022
  • Batra, P., Revi, A., Bazaz, A., Singh, C., & Poonacha, P. (2021). Transforming education for sustainable futures: India background paper (TESF Working Paper). TESF and IIHS.
  • Poonacha, P. (2019, December 26). How the upcoming satellite town ring road will affect lives and livelihoods around Bengaluru. Citizen Matters.
  • Poonacha, P., Koduganti, M. (2017). Thinking critically about the Future of Water Security in Bengaluru, India using Transformative Scenario Planning. ASSAR Information Brief, ASSAR, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Bazaz, A., Poonacha, P., Koduganti, M., Bhadwal, S., Gorti, G., & Ghosh, T. (2016). Climate adaptation policy: Key findings and recommendations. Ottawa, Canada: International Development Research Centre
  • Poonacha, P., Solomon, D., Bendapudi, R., Rahman, A., Basu, R., Badiger, S. (2015). Risks, vulnerability and impacts. In Revi, A., Bazaz, A., Krishnaswamy, J., Bendapudi, R., D’Souza, M., & Gajjar, S. P. (Eds.), Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Semi-Arid Areas in India (ASSAR Working Paper). Cape Town, South Africa.
  • Rahman, A., Poonacha, P., Solomon, D., Bendapudi, R., Bazaz, A., Gajjar, S. P., & Badiger, S. (2015). The regional to sub-national context. In A. Revi, A. Bazaz, J. Krishnaswamy, R. Bendapudi, M. D’Souza, & S. P. Gajjar (Eds.), Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in semi-arid areas in India (ASSAR Working Paper). Cape Town, South Africa: ASSAR.
  • Poonacha, P. (2022), Insights on urban and Periurban Agriculture as Green Infrastructure in the seed session: Exploring pathways for a city-wide plan for integrating pollination service and green infrastructure in Bengaluru, India, TNOC conference.
  • Singh, C., Patil, S., Poonacha, P., Roy, P., Malladi, T., Mahalingam, A., Koduganti, M., & Sharma, S. (2021). Understanding the impacts of urban and peri-urban agriculture on human wellbeing and urban sustainability: Case of Bangalore and Pune. In Urban imaginaries 2021: IIHS annual research conference proceedings (pp. 143-146).  Indian Institute for Human Settlements.
  • Poonacha, P. (2021), Unlearning – Learning – Sharing: reflecting on the experience of capacity development on the integration of climate change in development projects, Adaptation Futures Conference, New Delhi.
  • Poonacha, P. (2018), Lessons on operationalizing researcher-practitioner collaboration from the ASSAR project in India, Adaptation Futures Conference, Cape Town.
  • Poonacha, P (2017), Evaluating the Transformative Scenario Planning (TSP) process as a tool for developing sustainable climate adaptation strategies in India, European Climate Change Adaptation Conference, Glasgow.