Mrs. Aparna

Biography

Aparna completed her graduation in Architecture from the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) in the year 2003. She worked with an architectural firm for a year before joining an M.Tech programme in Public Policy and Planning with specialization at CEPT University. After completion of postgraduate course in 2006, she worked with the Development Alternatives Group (DA) – an organization driving initiatives related to community based development, environment and sustainable livelihoods. There, she coordinated initiatives related to implementation and research on social housing processes – sustainable building practices, mason training programmes, habitat infrastructure, housing finance, social collateral and documentation. She was also associated with a social enterprise for consumer research on affordable housing across a few Indian cities. For the last seven years Aparna has pursued her core interest of socio-economic development research. She was associated with CEPT-CRDC on works related to rural livelihoods, coastal environment and social dynamics. She has recently submitted her PhD thesis draft for external examination. Aparna received Pan Asia Risk Reduction (PARR) research fellowship from START International Inc. to visit Kyoto University for a month in 2014. She also received PARR follow on grants to take forward her research on Flood Risk Vulnerability in Surat. She had been to the Environmental Design Faculty at University of Calgary on student exchange programme for a semester after third year of her graduate course.

Research Interest

Livelihoods, social-economic processes, disaster risk vulnerability, urban studies, coastal environment, housing