Mara Mahmud, pursuing a Master of Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Environmental Studies and Urban Change at York University. I previously completed an Honour’s bachelor’s degree of Social Science in Conflict Studies and Human Rights, accompanied by a Minor in Women and Gender Studies. My key interest is in exploring the complexity of the relationship between human migration, urban development, and climate change.
My research is focused on exploring the urban development context of Dhaka, Bangladesh, relative to mass climate-induced migration from rural and coastal regions. I propose to produce a documentary to explore this topic and to more effectively illustrate the nuance and complexity of this emerging phenomenon –– climate displacement. I seek to understand how development practitioners in collaboration with the state could work together with slum communities to produce a collectively climate-secure future. Through visual storytelling and field work, I hope to produce work and insight that is both accessible and meaningful.