A
INTERDISCIPLINARY + DIGITAL PROJECT
based on: Political Ecology
[River veins are traced in blue. Satellite image [open data source]: Copernicus Sentinel, processed by ESA]
With this project, I aim to build networks and exchange community knowledge on ecological topics during my Ph.D. studies. The focus of this project will be on topics related to water and society.
Feel free to contact me regarding collaborations on ecological issues or projects related to the
Tigris + Euphrates river basin
In order to better understand the Impacts of climate change On Water, Drought and Vulnerability in the Region.
Behind this Project:
It’s me – Şermin and my Networks.
I am a cultural & social anthropologist focussing on the environment, ecology, Rivers, Water, CRISeS, and POLITICs.
With my family, I migrated from Turkey to Germany in the 90s. Previously, my family had already gone through internal migration. They migrated from Kurdish-populated AgÎri [near the mountain Ararat and the River Zilan] to the western part of Turkey. So for me being on the move is nothing new – from this stems my motivation and the cosmopolitan attitude to network and to be in motion.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey (2002): Declassified Satellite Imagery 2.
Since childhood – learning collectively and creatively, and sharing this with others became my habit.
Later in adulthood, actively sharing knowledge with women became an important part of my motivation. Networking against vulnerabilities continued to be my commitment. Especially as a Kurdish woman.
This digital network project is about the trans-boundary rivers Tigris and Euphrates, about humans and their relationship towards their environment in this region.
Tigris + Euphrates – are two rivers in the Near East that shaped and continue to shape space and policies across history and cultures.
The cross-border river basin of Euphrates and Tigris extends geographically from the Taurus Mountains in eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf. The ancient area of Mesopotamia includes some of the oldest sites of human civilization. Still today it is a key region of the Middle East ‒ threatened by war, environmental disasters, and profound crises in the water supply. Most parts of Mesopotamia are semi-arid and arid regions that can’t rely on regular and sufficient rainfalls. They are dependent on trans-boundary rivers like Tigris and Euphrates.
As a consequence of climate change and the growing population, the per capita water supply is diminished.
Water scarcity is a threat multiplier for armed conflict, displacement, and poverty
On this website, I will bring the inhabitants and environment into focus through different methods to give a better understanding of this topic.
As a phd Researcher at Disaster Research Unit / Freue Universität Berlin – I chose to design this process interdisciplinary – on the one hand digitally and on the other through workshops and exhibitions.
Based on ethnographic methods, I have made interviews and field notes about residents of these rivers. I will present these in different creative forms through this digital project while I write my PhD thesis.
I will find answers within the communities – that are excluded from discourses related to water:
> What could the increasing water demand do to society?
> Can international law help communities?
> What do we mean by the term: „water crisis“?
> How should we best understand the water crisis?
> Is a lack of water discriminating?
> Do we humans have water rights? Where does that come from?
> Water rights = women’s rights?
> What are water towers for?
> What do we mean by WASH?
> How does the water supply crisis come about?
> Who owns the water? Can there be ownership over water?
