Graduate Exit Seminar - Rongkun Liu

Plan to join Rongkun Liu's graduate exit seminar on November 21, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. via Zoom. Rongkun will present, "Building Mountain-inspired Community Resilience: Combination, Engagement and Co-production."

Abstract:
Mountain ecosystems and communities are increasingly exposed to environmental, economic, and sociocultural changes that include, and are shaped by, climate change, mountain hazards, land use choices, rapid infrastructure development, and external knowledge and technological innovations. These changes are oftentimes interconnected in ways that dynamically affect local livelihoods, ecosystems that support those livelihoods, and ultimately the sustainability of the mountain social-ecological system. Community resilience has been promoted as a collective capacity that helps the community deal with change and continue to develop. However, it remains less researched with few empirical studies in the context of whether and how community resilience, particularly mountain-inspired community resilience, emerges and becomes enhanced in the face of complex mountain social-ecological changes. This dissertation research therefore aims to address this matter through a real-world and action research-oriented case study in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region (HKH). The study followed a mixed-methods approach that combined surveys, interviews, an intervention, and ethnography to collect data and evidence. The findings are not only relevant for strengthening mountain community resilience in the HKH, but also providing insights for other mountain communities elsewhere in the world.

Advisor: Dr. Jeremy Brooks 
Co-Advisor: Dr. Alia Dietsch