Climate Change it is and has been one of the crucial themes in the past
decades and has therefore been analyzed and dissected from various
perspectives. As
a result of the current and further expected impact, the phenomenon
of climate change has been given thought from diverse points of view – such as
economic, scientific, and political. Nonetheless, not much has yet contributed
to the “Lived Experience of Climate Change” – the knowledge of climate change
that individuals and groups gain over time through their everyday and professional
lives and which cannot be adequately categorized within conventional academic
disciplines. In this article we explore the importance
of real life experience. Being able to
count with the collaboration of three researchers experts in this area.
Climate change has
been fairly described as a “wicked problem” because of its even further
exacerbating features.
According
to Gordon Wilson[1],
environment
and development professor, the main challenges we might face in the future are
the migration of “climate refugees” from countries with low adaptive capacity,
the loss of development opportunities for poor countries and “the ability to
bring citizens
of richer countries to acknowledge the problem, accept climate change policies,
and do something about climate change personally”. Sandra
Caeiro[2] believes that the fights against biodiversity loss
and unbalanced ecosystems represent a bigger environmental risk. Meron Taye[3]
highlights that the main challenges we might face can be: frequent extreme conditions and water quality deterioration.
This means we’ll have to adapt to a changing climate. In
this context, Gordon Wilson states that lived experiences can
“compliment the knowledge of climate change impacts provided by natural science
and social science and hence lead to better policy and actions” and at the same
time motivate those who aren’t a part of the fight against climate changes by
showing the innovations poor people are implementing in their lives to a larger
population, while also ensuring that citizens’ voices are heard.
For Meron Taye “One’s
lived experience gives an additional perspective of the impact of climate
change on one’s life”. As an example, Sandra Caeiro refers to
Africa. African communities with little economical resources are learning and
changing their behaviours in order to adapt to their often hard natural
conditions such as lack of water. A new group of “environmental
refugees” are moving their homes to safer, better places in terms of consequences of
climate change. We can learn from their experiences to anticipate other worldwide consequences.
The people
living on the Kijabe ranch (Kenya, East Africa), are experiencing climate change which is threatening
to destroy their way of life. Photo: http://becomeafriend.net.
It is necessary to capture a range
of insights from companies, public sector units at both national and local government
levels, NGOs and other citizen groups, etc. This way, Caeiro states that
lived experiences are strong educational tools. As so they can be a part of the
fight against climate changes.
Politicians should see this matter as a
global issue rather than a local one and consider the growing impact it has on
societies. In Gordon Wilson’s opinion, group discussions involving both
politicians and citizens, of different groups and origins, can help reaching
all of the society and make the decisions truly effective. Also, public
campaigns work better if the groups who are affected by the fight against
climate changes in a negative way are also heard and if their opinions are
taken into consideration (there is equality within the process).
The complexity of this problem means that
only an interdisciplinary and holistic approach will be effective. An appropriate response to
change implies new ways of being, supported by new mentalities and new
behaviours, which, in turn, imply sustainable interactivity between the system
of society and biophysical system.
Acknowledges: This article would not be possible without
the invaluable help of Gordon Wilson, Meron
Taye and Sandra Caeiro.
Young Reporters
for the Environment. Valsassina School, Lisbon, Portugal. Carolina
Fonseca, Joana Duarte, Pedro Leal.
[1] Gordon Wilson is
an Environment and Development Professor at the UK Open University. He was a
senior editor of 'Environment,
development and sustainability” (Oxford Univ.
Press) and co-author of 'Learning for Development'.
[2] Sandra Caeiro is an Professor in the Department of Science and Technology at Univ.
Aberta and a researcher at Institute of Marine and Environmental Research. She
is the coordinator of a B.Sc. programme on Environmental Sciences.
[3] Meron Taye is an
Ethiopian studying at K.U. Leuven, Belgium as a doctoral student. She received
an MSc degree in Water resources engineering.
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