Riccardo Ruggeri

The doctoral research proposes to focus on adaptation practices in response to the challenges facing Sicily's informal settlements which are exposed to increasingly severe droughts. Drawing on a socio-environmental understanding of these dynamics, the research identifies not only climate issues but also profound interdependencies between the environment and social and spatial organizations in the amplification of these phenomena. By intertwining urban political ecology, the genealogy of water infrastructure, and ‘improvised’ devices, the project aims to explore vernacular and current practices of adaptation to drought and to propose scenarios for hybrid water management.