Our companions
Resilient Floating Village
Imparting knowledge on the construction of floating infrastructures in the event of flooding
About
Small farmers in the eastern Indian region of Bihar often have to contend with devastating floods and see their habitat threatened by climate change. The “Floating Mothership” project aims to help these people. A training ship, the “Floating Mothership”, is used to impart knowledge on the construction of floating infrastructure. These floating villages can then help local people to better survive periods of flooding.
In Bihar, India, the population has been suffering from devastating floods for years, which are exacerbated by climate change. Almost 45% of Bihar's land area is at risk from flooding, which regularly destroys agricultural land, houses and infrastructure, leading to the displacement of poor smallholder farmers. With the Floating Mothership project, we want to help alleviate these problems. The team behind the Floating Mothership project already has many years of experience in working with local communities and tackling flood problems. The vision of floating infrastructures, the “Floating Village”, was developed. To realize this vision, we want to achieve the following:
- Expansion of the existing prototype into the “Floating Mothership” training ship
- Use of the Floating Mothership to impart knowledge on the construction of floating infrastructure for the people of the region
- Educational trip with the Floating Mothership to over 1 million small farmers, as they have no opportunity to travel to distant educational opportunities
These floating infrastructures are intended to offer affected smallholders refuge during the two to three months of flooding. They should be able to live self-sufficiently and at the same time pursue paid work in order to improve their living conditions. This approach ensures that they are not displaced from their native farmland and their sustainable lifestyle, thus protecting their livelihoods, way of life, traditional knowledge and culture. The Floating Mothership is a space for knowledge transfer and is intended to help people build up independent structures for the Floating Villages on site.