How can Climate Learning be Initiated? Piloting Unconventional Interventions in Neighbourhoods

Kofler, Viktoria and Winkler, Claudia and Seebauer, Sebastian and Brenner-Fließer, Michael (2023) How can Climate Learning be Initiated? Piloting Unconventional Interventions in Neighbourhoods. LET IT GROW, LET US PLAN, LET IT GROW. Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Resilient Smart Green and Blue Cities. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2023, 28th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 1029-1034. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

Bottom-up initiatives by citizens and communities are essential to increase acceptance of, and engagement in climate related actions. Yet, conventional approaches for raising awareness often fail to provoke a change in perspectives and actions. The CLEANcultures project conducts disruptive interventions in neighbourhoods to stimulate transformative learning processes to tackle climate change bottom-up at the neighbourhood level. The aim is not only to provide the neighbourhood with facts about the climate crisis, but also to trigger the citizens' emotions and attitudes, ultimately encouraging individual and collective action. Building on Transformative Learning Theory, local knowledge shall be activated, accepted norms questioned and alternative narratives of change co-created. A mixed-methods approach in two urban districts of Graz and the rural municipality of Admont combines 14 stakeholder interviews and a standardised postal survey of about 770 households with unconventional and interactive discussion formats involving 20 to 30 citizens per intervention. In the urban districts, commuter traffic, increasing heat stress, soil sealing and the decline of green spaces pose the biggest challenges. By contrast, the rural area struggles with insufficient public transport and lack of protection against extreme weather events. In line with Transformative Learning Theory, residents were first invited to critically assess their prevalent practices, prejudices and assumptions. Residents were confronted with the perceived climate-related threats in their direct surroundings as they appeared in the interviews and survey results, in order to generate reflection and self-examination. Next, the residents were engaged in iterative and interactive phases of stimulus, discussion, and reflection to discover local capacities to address the identified issues. The goal is to point out to the neighbourhoods their own possibilities for action and to strengthen their collective efficacy. The first intervention consisted of an impromusical play in which the climate-related problems were conveyed and reframed in a humorous way. The second intervention involved representatives of different religions who discussed various perspectives on ethics of climate responsibility with local citizens. Both interventions invited the audience to engage in an interactive and open discourse. As part of the transformative learning process, people realised that they were not alone in their thoughts and fears, and they were supported in developing ideas on how to get personally involved in their neighbourhood. Many mentioned that they were surprised by the relevance of climate-related issues in their residential surroundings. While citizens as individuals often do not feel heard and hardly see options for meaningful and effective contributions, the sense of belonging to a like-minded group can be empowering to explore new roles, relationships and actions. Working closely with (local) politicians also illustrated to decision makers the importance of the climate crisis in their neighbourhood and reinforced joint discourse. In all, unconventional interventions provide a promising entry point for introducing neighbourhood-level transformation processes in terms of climate change awareness, empowerment, and citizen involvement in decision-making.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	neighbourhoods, climate learning, transformative learning theory, mixed-methods approach, citizen engagement
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2023 13:29
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2023 17:50
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/967

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