In this last and final episode of our 6-part series on climate change and the meaning of resilience, we delve into Kerala’s constant efforts to support social progress in parallel to its development journey. We look at the assets Kerala chose to develop preemptively, in anticipation of the next disaster: a strong and agile grassroot army of volunteers, robust women self-help avenues, detailed disaster risk management even at the local level, and most importantly pulling together lessons learnt from past disasters. It is the “proximity to the lived experience of disaster” after the 2018 Nipah virus outbreak and the devastating floods of 2018 and 2019 that has helped people act quickly and organize lasting frameworks for resilience. Will Kerala be able to address its vulnerabilities and protect itself for future generations?

Thanks to Jose Shailaja Teacher, Sarada Muraleedharan, Mridul Eapen, Soumya Kapoor, Professor Jiju Ulahanan, Dr Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose, Bala Menon, Heather Fernandes, and Illika Sahu. Kaalavastha is narrated by Radhika Viswanathan. It is researched, written and produced by Radhika Viswanathan and Samyuktha Varma. Erwick D’souza composed the music.

For more information go to https://www.worldbank.org/keralapodcast or email keralapodcast@worldbankgroup.org