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IRES working paper series. Number 2013-01

University of British Columbia. Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability

How does the issue of climate change come to resonate or hold meaning for different individuals or constituencies? How do different communities decide on ways to address climate change, and what kinds of initiatives hold promise for improving agency and engagement with the climate issue? In this paper, we present a conceptual approach based in narrative and social practice theories to contribute an answer to these questions by exploring how individuals and groups conceptualise, feel and act on climate change. The study of narratives has provided a means of untangling the hidden meanings, assumptions and power dynamics that lie behind the stories we tell and the decisions we make on climate change, as well as a tool for communicating climate change information. A third approach to narrative offers a way to engage people in conversation about climate change, creating the opportunity to explore its various meanings and reimagine the options available for its resolution. Coupled with a social practice lens, these meanings can be understood as situated within the structures, institutions and routines that comprise our world, with implications for the broader transformation of our socio-technical systems. After two decades of insufficient action on climate change, an understanding of how support for and action on climate change is generated through such initiatives is key to effecting a broader transformation towards a low-carbon, resilient society.

Working Paper

eng

2013-06-13

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/44563

Westerhoff L and Robinson J. The meaning(s) of climate change: exploring narrative and social practice in the quest for transformation. Presented at the "Transformation in a Changing Climate" conference, Oslo, June 19-21 2013.

Faculty; Graduate

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