Short Abstract:

The study suggests an innovative approach to assess climate-induced vulnerability and advocates spatial sustainability thinking for (re)thinking socio-ecological development amid current and future climate crises. It focuses on the traditional marine fishing society in Bengal, India, using a hybrid methodology with community participation.

Long Abstract:

This study offers an innovative and comprehensive approach to measuring climate-induced vulnerability, as well as spatial approaches to thinking about sustainability in the context of Indian coastal society. The initiative attempts to map vulnerability extensively while (re)evaluating traditional ideas of sustainability by focusing on the delicate interplay between socio-ecological dynamics and climate change. This study employs a multidisciplinary approach, integrating ecological assessments, socioeconomic analysis, and local community engagement. It specifically focuses on a case study involving traditional marine fishermen in the coastal region of Bengal, India. In this case, a hybrid methodology was employed, incorporating interdisciplinary data collection techniques such as household sampling (N=330), focused group discussions (N=20), participatory GIS, and drawing upon relevant secondary sources. In this sense, this study developed a 'socio-ecological vulnerability model' with the help of the IPCC vulnerability framework to map the climate-induced socio-ecological vulnerability in coastal society. Through vulnerability analysis and mapping, this study shifts sustainability concepts for future Earth's climate challenges to socio-ecological spatial thinking, establishing and applying innovative 'thinking of sustainability.' This study reveals the escalating coastal socio-ecological vulnerability in India's coastal Bengal due to climate extreme events, leading to various challenges like climate gaps, migration, and water governance. These issues intensify spatial inequality, injustice, and dissatisfaction among locals, jeopardizing their fundamental human rights and daily lives. In response, the study proposes and argues for a re-evaluation of socio-ecological sustainability through innovative spatial considerations, urging a critical perspective and emphasizing the need for (re)thinking socio-ecological development amidst current and future climate crises.

Keywords: Climate crisis; Socio-ecological vulnerability; Spatial thinking of sustainability; Local community participation; Coastal Society