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KLIMAFORSK-Stort program klima

An approach for innovative Climate Learning, Evaluation and Action in Neighbourhoods - CLEAN Cultures

Awarded: NOK 2.5 mill.

Bottom-up initiatives by individuals and communities are essential to increase acceptance of, and engagement in climate related actions. Yet, conventional strategies addressing these groups often fail to provoke a change in perspectives and actions. CLEANcultures investigates how broadening the perspective at a systemic micro-level triggers action, and how this kind of transformative learning encourages political bottom-up driven decisions. At the core of our approach, we use cases in different countries and contexts to explore how, at neighborhood level, new perspectives and solutions for existing local climate-relevant problems can be developed via novel learning and exchange processes. We set unusual, creative thematic intervention impulses to provide neighborhoods not only with facts but to trigger their emotions and attitudes, and stimulate the co-creation of cultures/narratives of change. This learning process at micro level allows a better understanding of small-scale societal systems dynamics, in terms of climate change awareness, empowerment and decision making in transforming processes. On meso- and macro-levels the project produces a generic transferable methodology for stimulating such processes in other neighborhoods; and a set of recommendations for climate policy-making. CLEANcultures consortium unites broad scientific competences, within Social Sciences and Humanities but also from technical disciplines. The team is composed of sociologists, environmental/social psychologists, economists, process engineers and environmental scientists from JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (coordinator, Austria), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and University Roma Tre (Italy). The project is funded in JPI Climate joint transnational call SOLSTICE (Enabling Societal Transformation in the Face of Climate Change). The project has identified two neighbourhoods (Driva in Oppdal and Myrsletta in Ski) as the Norwegian cases. In both neighbourhood, an extensive analysis of documents, media, and other literature was conducted, as well as interviews with key members of the local community and a survey. Based on this data, it was concluded that mobility related questions were most pressing in Myrsletta, while finding a good balance between tourism (and how it is impacted by climate change) and other industry was the main issue in Driva. A first round of creative and stimulating workshops was conducted in both neighbourhoods in summer 2022. A second round was implemented in spring 2023, and a third and final round in Myrsletta in autumn 2023. The final workshop will happen in early spring 2024 in Driva as the community was affected by a large flooding event in the autumn, and political reorganization after the local election. Under the lead of NTNU, a report was written about the analyses of the neighbourhoods in all countries in 2023, as well as a scientific paper drafted based on the most central findings. NTNU also contributed to a paper under the lead of Johanneum Research about climate related lifestyles. The paper is under review.

The IPPC report on global warming of 1.5 degree sees bottom-up initiatives by individuals and communities as essential to increase acceptance of and engagement in climate related actions. However, conventional strategies addressing these groups often fail to provoke a change in perspectives and actions. As promising entrance point, confronting local people with perceived climate relevant threats in their direct surroundings may tackle climate related prejudices and initiate transformative learning processes. CLEANcultures investigates, based on existing knowledge and practical experience from various disciplines, how broadening the perspective at a systemic micro-level triggers action and how this kind of transformative learning encourages political bottom-up driven decisions. At the core of our approach, we use cases in different countries and contexts to explore how, at neighborhood level, new perspectives and solutions for existing local climate-relevant problems can be developed via novel learning and exchange processes. In the design of this learning approach, we set unusual, creative thematic intervention impulses to provide neighborhoods not only with facts but to trigger their emotions and attitudes. We use local knowledge, challenge accepted norms, explore the cultural background of energy practices and stimulate the co-creation of cultures/narratives of change. This learning process at micro level allows a better understanding of small-scale societal systems dynamics, in terms of climate change awareness, empowerment and decision making in transforming processes. We provide results at three levels: First, an effective change in perspectives and/or decision making at the specific neighborhoods’ level; second, a generic transferable methodology for stimulating such processes in other neighborhoods; third, a set of best practice recommendations for the micro- and meso-level of people-oriented policy making to be fed into the post-COP21 knowledge.

Funding scheme:

KLIMAFORSK-Stort program klima