Visible Anthropology through mapping: DPU PhD candidate receives distinguished award

In recognition of her innovative doctoral research, Tatiana Ome has recently received an academic prize awarded by ‘Visible Anthropology’ (Antropología Visible), an initiative coordinated by the University of Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. The objective of this call is to make visible different groundbreaking contributions undertaking by both young and senior anthropologists and archaeologists that push forward the boundaries of the discipline through transformative ethnographic and archaeological work.

Tatiana received this distinction for her exploration of Eco-barrios (ecological neighbourhoods) as a grassroots strategy to counter-act evictions. Concentrating on three informal settlements, known as El Triángulo, in the eastern hills of Bogotá, she studied how far the eco-barrios paradigm could help transform a cycle of increasing urban risk brought on by urbanization.

The award recognizes in particular the work she undertook through a participatory mapping process, with the support and participation of her supervisor Professor Adriana Allen, Alex Frediani (Co-Director of MSc Social Development Practice) and Rita Lambert (ESD teaching fellow and PhD candidate) in November 2012. Instigated by local dwellers, this experience was designed to plot their dwellings and risk-mitigation practices on a map in the slopes of Bogotá hills.

Tatiana’s work has been documented in an e-book together with other outstanding initiatives in the field. Access the book online here.