Nest – Sinduri Soundararajan – 2023
Goals
As global surface temperatures rise, U.S-based artisans and makers are likely to be burdened by climate-related disasters, made more challenging for those whose workspace is also their home.
Nest enlisted Climate Corps fellow Sinduri Soundararajan to understand climate impacts on this community and develop comprehensive guidebooks to equip makers with tools/information to prepare for and respond to such challenges – including guidance in accessing disaster assistance through FEMA/SBA/private insurance, advice for implementing climate resilience measures as a small business, and other relevant resources tailored to the maker community.
Solutions
Applying findings from extensive research, interviews with disaster experts, and outreach to fellow disaster assistance and artist support nonprofits, Sindu developed Nest’s Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Recovery Guidebooks, both tailored for U.S. artisans and maker-entrepreneurs. She worked to connect with and incorporate feedback from federal agency representatives at FEMA and SBA, artisans in Nest’s network of makers, and Nest’s internal team to ensure that drafted maker guides were accurate and most helpful to those they intend to serve.
Sindu additionally collaborated with Nest and Etsy to generate a Research and Solutions Report, a comprehensive study on the impacts of climate change on artisans and makers with insights and guidance for stakeholders to support makers through a just climate transition. Informed by findings revealed through her research, she played a key role in producing recommendations directed at policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders in this space to enact equitable climate solutions for the maker community and beyond.
Potential Impact
Sindu’s disaster recovery and resilience guides will be distributed to Nest and Etsy’s network of makers across the United States in order to equip millions of artisans with the tools and information to prepare and respond to an inevitable future of increasingly severe and frequent climate-induced natural hazards. Ultimately, the guides will work to shrink the time between disaster and recovery, advancing environmental justice for a community of makers made up of majority female entrepreneurs and many minority-owned small businesses.
Before the completion of Sindu’s fellowship at Nest, draft versions of the guides were sent to makers in Hawaii to provide real-time support to victims of devastating wildfires that ravaged Hawaii; Sindu provided recommendations for Nest to continue practicing the timely distribution of guides by connecting with local arts councils of regions facing climate-related disasters.
Sindu’s findings through her work on Nest and Etsy’s Research and Solutions Report led to informed policy recommendations that will be presented to key stakeholders during Nest’s Climate Convening in 2024 and through opportunities like NYC Climate Week.
