Lucila Carbonell Jaramillo

Area of Research / Academic Interests

With a background in Architecture and an MSc in Urban Development Planning, Lucila is currently an EngD student. 

Lucila's research aims to explore how communities rebuild and recover after a major disaster, when they have limited access to resources. Self-building is a major component of self-recovery - aid agencies generally support only a small proportion of those affected to rebuild - but very little is known about the practices, processes and factors that constrain or stimulate this.  Research with communities whose houses were damaged or destroyed in the 2015 Nepal earthquake provides insights into the question.  The project investigates decision-making regarding the choice of building materials, designs and construction technologies, how affected households and communities access relevant material, technical and financial resources, and their relationships with official institutions and planning frameworks. Identifying key aspects of self-recovery, as well as gaps, will allow for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of recovery. This research has the potential of informing the international community to better support people-driven reconstruction processes.

Lucila's Industry Partner is CARE International UK, where she works with the humanitarian shelter team one day a week. She has particular interest in how the intersectionality of gender and poverty affects the self-recovery process, and has tested participatory research as a methodology for gaining further insights into the recovery processes.  

Keywords: Self-recovery, Nepal earthquakes, gender, participatory research