Climate Recipes: An intergenerational archive of lived wisdom

Professor Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Faculty of Visual Arts at Ashoka University and Srinivas Mangipudi curated Climate Recipes, a book featuring short stories and illustrations from twenty five experts in Goa. The ‘recipes’ offer practical advice on living sustainably without harming the environment.

With climate change emerging as a pressing problem, Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Visiting Faculty of Visual Arts, Ashoka University and Srinivas Mangipudi (artist / curator) co-initiated a project called ‘Climate Recipes. If left unchecked, climate change can damage our ecosystem. This research project was initiated to serve as an archive of wisdom and advice from individuals committed to the issues of land and the environment. The idea is to document intergenerational wisdom across different regions of the country that are prototypes of climate resilience and sustainability.

Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi and Srinivas Mangipudi came out with the Goa edition, a 130 page book for which they interviewed twenty-five experts from the Goan community. Over six months of meeting and interacting with individuals from different fields and documenting their knowledge, both authors experienced a shift in their habits and found a deeper meaning in simple acts towards saving the environment. These included environmentalists, scientists, architects, farmers, conservationists, historians, and poets. The book conveys their lived experiences and offers ‘life recipes’ to protect our planet and its environment in the face of climate challenges. Climate Recipes premiered as part of the ‘this.generation’ art exhibition at the Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts, Panaji in 2023. After curating Climate Recipes, the curators believe that insights from people belonging to various fields can help us reboot our daily approaches to life and better support the environment. These ‘recipes’ provide life strategies to tackle climate change, drawing from the native knowledge of experts from Goa.

For example, Rajeev Kumar Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani, Goa, suggests that we should curb our greed by letting go of personalized vehicles and appliances in favor of shared solutions. Tallulah D’Silva, a sustainable architect and founder of architecture t, emphasizes that our approach to architecture should be gradual, considerate of the environment, and involve sustainable practices. Nirmal Kulkarni, a field ecologist and director of Wildernest Nature Resort, advocates for learning from the forest and its plants and animals, which serve as our mentors in climate resilience and adaptation.

Climate Recipes is also expanding with new editions for Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Bengaluru, Bhitarkanika. With the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana edition, the aim is to highlight natural farming, agroecology, biodiversity restoration, and community well-being. In Bengaluru, the project plans to adopt a neighborhood-centric approach to understand urban ecosystems, aiming to redefine sustainable living in the city’s rapid development. In Bhitarkanika, Odisha, the focus is on balancing wildlife conservation in the national park with local economic development, promoting a sustainable coexistence between humans and wildlife with collaboration from the Odisha Government and other partners.

Thus, with all its editions, Climate Recipes is dedicated to provide knowledgeable insights from individuals across different parts of the country and fields. The focus remains steadfast on commitment to land and environmental stability.

Climate Recipes project is supported by Socratus Collective Wisdom Corporation and Pollinator.io