The Global Chaos Map Project was initiated with internal funding from ARU with the aim of gathering data on unrest related to natural resources and visualise these on an interactive platform.
The project was supported in different phases by a numerous and experienced team of senior researchers and interns.
Davide Natalini is Senior Research Fellow at the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI) and co-leads the Global Resilience and Risk research theme at the Institute. Davide co-led the conception and the overall development of the project. Davide provided theoretical grounding and methodological expertise, leading to the successful conclusion of the first phase of the project.
Aled Jones is the inaugural Director of the Global Sustainability Institute. Aled’s work in climate finance has been recognised by the State of California and he has received a key to the city of North Little Rock, USA. He is a Co-Investigator on the ESRC Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) and led the Global Resource Observatory project.
Imelda Phadtare was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Global Sustainability Institute and an international expert in natural resource and disaster management. Mel co-led the overall development of the project where she provided project management, content development, stakeholder engagement expertise and the GCMP Methodology – Summary Report.
Ahmed Badreldin is a PhD student based at the Global Sustainability Institute and was employed on the Global Chaos Map Project as research assistant during the summer of 2018. Ahmed supported the development of the initial phase of the project and wrote one commentary.
Richard Bousfield is an MSc Sustainability student and was employed on the Global Chaos Map Project as research assistant during the summer of 2018. Richard supported the development of all databases by scanning and reviewing newspaper articles.
Alexander Byott is an MSc Sustainability student at ARU and supported the Global Chaos Map Project as part of his placement on the course during the summer of 2019. Alexander wrote several commentary pieces and provided overall admin support for the project.
Kara Jenkinson is an aid worker with more than 12 years’ experience across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Specialised in disaster management, food security and migration issues, she recently completed a two-year assignment with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in Ethiopia. Kara assisted with the editing of the commentaries.
Auriane Monti is an undergraduate student from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse and supported the Global Chaos Map Project as part of her internship during the summer of 2019. Auriane wrote several commentary pieces and provided overall admin support for the project.
Jennifer Sumners is a postgraduate student in Applied Wildlife Conservation at ARU, and supported the Global Chaos Map Project as an intern during the summer of 2018. Jenni supported the development of the databases for water- and fuel-related unrest by scanning and reviewing newspaper articles and also wrote one commentary piece.
Karen Thivya Lourdes is an alumna of ARU. Karen supported the Global Chaos Map Project as an intern during the summer of 2018 and wrote a commentary piece. She has worked with several environmental non-governmental organisations, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Cambridge and Greenpeace Malaysia.
The Global Chaos Map Project was developed partially as a spin-off from the Global Resource Observatory Project, a research project led by the Global Sustainability Institute aimed at developing simulation models to better understand the consequences of scarcity and lack of access to natural resources for society at large, amongst which we find conflict and social unrest.
Big modelling exercises like the Global Resource Observatory project require large amounts of data and no database of environmental conflict currently exists. The availability of more, better, specific data will give us the opportunity to understand key drivers of resource-related social unrest and ultimately work on early interventions to prevent it.
The Global Chaos Map Project constitutes a first step in the direction of collecting such specific data, undertaking initial analysis to identify commonalities across different chaos events, and making this publicly accessible for comment.
The topics of conflict, unrest and risk are of special interest to the GSI given one of our four research themes is titled Global Risk and Resilience. The Global Chaos Map Project aligns well with this theme and allows the GSI to continue to explore and expand our research in this area, with a view to providing deeper insights and supporting the formulation of solutions.
We are currently working on designing the second phase of the project, which will involve extending our research both in terms of timeline and dimensions.
If you are interested in our results or would like to be involved, contact the project lead Dr Davide Natalini: [email protected].