About
CESA Global is a pathbreaking internationally-focused initiative at the forefront of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Comprised of a dedicated network of team members with deep roots in community-led research and engagement, CESA Global is a leading innovator in the development of infrastructure for equitable, inclusive, participatory climate adaptation.
Our flagship product, CogniCity Open Source Software (OSS), originally co-designed by Dr. Tomas Holderness and Dr. Etienne Turpin in 2013, has already been adopted by millions of users in Southeast Asia. However, we believe that to address the urgent challenges posed by climate change, we must meaningfully engage everyone affected. To this end, we are currently working to scale our proven software for DRR and climate adaptation from hundreds of millions of users in Southeast Asia to billions of users worldwide.
Because CogniCity OSS harnesses the under-leveraged potential of mobile connectivity—and the social media and messaging services it enables—we are convinced that its global adoption can help to facilitate participatory, equitable, and cost effective climate adaptation at scale.
In 2020, the M+ Museum of Visual Culture acquired CogniCity OSS for its collection of 21st century urban design and commissioned a film about the project that narrates the history of the software as a critical component of climate adaptation infrastructure.
