On July 23, the Penn IUR Forum on Urban Informality continued its 2021 Summer eSeminar Series with a session on energy access in the Global South and connections to basic energy needs, human health, and climate change. Deepti Chatti, Assistant Professor of Environmental Justice in the Environmental Studies Department and Faculty Research Associate at the Schatz Energy Research Centre at Humboldt State University, presented her insights from nearly a decade of ethnographic research on cookstove use in urban and rural households in the Indian Himalayas. The discussion following her presentation unpacked different local perspectives toward the use of certain fuels, the difficulty of neatly defining local development aspirations, and the need for qualitative research to inform energy access initiatives, where beneficiaries often defy "formal" or "informal" labels.
Providing expert commentary on urban topics and highlighting Penn IUR's research in the context of pressing urban issues.
