Arvind Lakshmisha
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Natural Resource Management in areas under Urban Transformation
- Actors and their Interactions in Polycentric Governance Systems
- Collaborations and Collective Action
- Change in Governance and Institutional Arrangements of Urban Commons
- Social and Environmental Networks
- Social Accountability and Climate Change
Biography
Arvind Lakshmisha is an interdisciplinary researcher with a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development, a double-degree programme of United Nations University and Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT).
He also has a Master’s in Climate Science and Policy from TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS).
Prior to joining the University, he was a Research Associate and Doctoral Candidate at the Section of International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance, University of Kassel, Germany.
He was a part of the Graduate Programme for Bangalore Dynamics focusing on rural-urban dynamics in Bengaluru between 2017 – 2020. He was also part of the project FOR2432/2 funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) looking at understanding social-ecological systems in the rural-urban interface. He focused on analysing the rural-urban dynamics and cross-scalar coordination and institutional change in water governance in Bengaluru, southern India.
During his previous work at the Public Affairs Centre, Bengaluru, he worked extensively on issues of climate adaptation among fishing and agrarian communities in South Asia. He helped develop Climate Change Score Cards, a social accountability tool to help increase the accountability of local administration in areas of increasing vulnerability.
Publications
Book
- Sha, A., Jangal, J., & Suresh, R. (2015). Can Famers Adapt to Climate Change? Citizens Plan their Adaptation. Punya Publishers.
Book Chapters
- Thapa, P., Lakshmisha, A., Dhanya, B., Nagendra, H., Plieninger, T., & Thiel. A. (in press). Social-ecological dynamics of green and blue infrastructure in the Indian mega city of Bengaluru. In Ecology of Tropical Cities: Natural and Social Sciences Applied to the Conservation of Urban Biodiversity. Springer Cham.
- Lakshmisha, A., Agarwal, P., & Nikam, M. (2019). Assessing the double Injustice of climate change and urbanization on water security in peri-urban areas: Creating citizen-centric scenarios. In Water Insecurity and Sanitation in Asia (pp. 301 – 323). Asian Development Bank Institute. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/544131/adbi-water-insecurity-and-sanitation-asia.pdf
Journal Articles
- Lakshmisha, A., & Thiel, A. (2023). Legitimacy, shared understanding and exchange of resources: Co-managing lakes along an urban – rural gradient in Greater Bengaluru Metropolitan Region, India. Environmental Management, 71(3), 523 – 537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-023 – 01795‑z
- Lakshmisha, A., & Thiel, A. (2022). Bridging actors and their role in co-managing lakes: Cases from Greater Bengaluru Metropolitan Region (GBMR). Sustainability, 14(10), 5865. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105865
- Nagendra, B., Lakshmisha, A., & Agarwal, P. (2019). Mobile application in Municipal Waste Tracking: A pilot study of “pac waste tracker” in Bangalore City, India. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 21(3), 705 – 712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-018 – 00819‑9
Report
- Lakshmisha, A., Agarwal, P., & Jangal, J. (2016). Assessing the double injustice of climate change and urbanisation on water resources in peri-urban areas. Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) and Public Affairs Centre (PAC). https://empri.karnataka.gov.in/uploads/media_to_upload1682581303.pdf
Blog post
- Lakshmisha, A. (2019). Citizen Report Card — A powerful social audit tool. Civil Society Academy. https://www.civilsocietyacademy.org/post/citizen-report-card