Managing and Bridging Language Differences in Climate Change Research in Local Knowledge Systems

Frontline communities of California experience disproportionate social, economic, and environmental injustices, and climate change is exacerbating the root causes of inequity in those areas. Yet, climate adaptation and mitigation strategies often fail to meaningfully address the experience of frontline community stakeholders. Here, we present three challenges, three errors, and three solutions to better integrate frontline communities' needs in climate change research and to create more impactful policies. We base our perspective on our collective firsthand experiences and on scholarship to bridge local knowledge with hydroclimatic research and policymaking. Unawareness of local priorities (Challenge 1) is a consequence of Ignoring local knowledge (Error 1) that can be, in part, resolved with Information exchange and expansion of community-based participatory research (Solution 1). Unequal access to natural resources (Challenge 2) is often due to Top-down decision making (Error 2), but Buffer zones for environmental protection, green areas, air quality, and water security can help achieve environmental justice (Solution 2). Unequal access to public services (Challenge 3) is a historical issue that persists because of System abuse and tokenism (Error 3), and it may be partially resolved with Multi-benefit projects to create socioeconomic and environmental opportunities within frontline communities that include positive externalities for other stakeholders and public service improvements (Solution 3). The path forward in climate change policy decision-making must be grounded in collaboration with frontline community members and practitioners trained in working with vulnerable stakeholders. Addressing co-occurring inequities exacerbated by climate change requires transdisciplinary efforts to identify technical, policy, and engineering solutions.

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Climate change research and the search for solutions: rethinking interdisciplinarity

Climatic Change ◽

10.1007/s10584-021-03237-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 168 (3-4) ◽

Author(s):

E. Lisa F. Schipper ◽

Navroz K. Dubash ◽

Yacob Mulugetta

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Climate Change ◽

Natural Sciences ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Political Pressure ◽

Climate Change Research ◽

Social Sciences And Humanities ◽

Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽

New Knowledge ◽

Interdisciplinary Knowledge

Abstract Growing political pressure to find solutions to climate change is leading to increasing calls for multiple disciplines, in particular those that are not traditionally part of climate change research, to contribute new knowledge systems that can offer deeper and broader insights to address the problem. Recognition of the complexity of climate change compels researchers to draw on interdisciplinary knowledge that marries natural sciences with social sciences and humanities. Yet most interdisciplinary approaches fail to adequately merge the framings of the disparate disciplines, resulting in reductionist messages that are largely devoid of context, and hence provide incomplete and misleading analysis for decision-making. For different knowledge systems to work better together toward climate solutions, we need to reframe the way questions are asked and research pursued, in order to inform action without slipping into reductionism. We suggest that interdisciplinarity needs to be rethought. This will require accepting a plurality of narratives, embracing multiple disciplinary perspectives, and shifting expectations of public messaging, and above all looking to integrate the appropriate disciplines that can help understand human systems in order to better mediate action.

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Encounters Between Experiences and Measurements: The Role of Local Knowledge in Climate Change Research

Mountain Research and Development ◽

10.1659/mrd-journal-d-18-00063.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 39 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Julia Kieslinger ◽

Perdita Pohle ◽

Viviana Buitrón ◽

Thorsten Peters

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Climate Change Research

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Climate Change Research - Evaluation and Policy Implications, Proceedings of the International Climate Change Research Conference

10.1016/s0166-1116(06)x8187-6 ◽

1995 ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Research Evaluation ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Climate Change Research ◽

Research Conference ◽

International Climate ◽

International Climate Change

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Track 2.a Introduction

Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management ◽

10.33114/adim.2019.2a ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sucharita BENIWAL ◽

Sahil MATHUR ◽

Lesley-Ann NOEL ◽

Cilla PEMBERTON ◽

Suchitra BALASUBRAHMANYAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Ways Of Knowing ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Native Communities ◽

Cultural Systems ◽

Local Practices

The aim of this track was to question the divide between the nature of knowledge understood as experiential in indigenous contexts and science as an objective transferable knowledge. However, these can co-exist and inform design practices within transforming social contexts. The track aimed to challenge the hegemony of dominant knowledge systems, and demonstrate co-existence. The track also hoped to make a case for other systems of knowledges and ways of knowing through examples from native communities. The track was particularly interested in, first, how innovators use indigenous and cultural systems and frameworks to manage or promote innovation and second, the role of local knowledge and culture in transforming innovation as well as the form of local practices inspired innovation. The contributions also aspired to challenge through examples, case studies, theoretical frameworks and methodologies the hegemony of dominant knowledge systems, the divides of ‘academic’ vs ‘non-academic’ and ‘traditional’ vs ‘non-traditional’.

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Cultivating Ice over Time: On the Idea of Timeless Knowledge and Places in the Himalayas

Anthropologica ◽

10.3138/anth.582.t03 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 193-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Karine Gagné

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sense Of Community ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Local Communities ◽

International Organisations ◽

Change Over Time ◽

Local Populations ◽

Close Study ◽

Indian Himalayas ◽

Over Time

Assumptions that local communities have an endogenous capacity to adapt to climate change stemming from time-tested knowledge and an inherent sense of community that prompts mobilisation are becoming increasingly common in material produced by international organisations. This discourse, which relies on ahistorical and apolitical conceptions of localities and populations, is based on ideas of timeless knowledge and places. Analysing the water-place nexus in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas, through a close study of glacier practices as they change over time, the article argues that local knowledge is subject to change and must be analysed in light of changing conceptions and experiences of place by the state and by local populations alike.

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Local Knowledge Ben Tre's Coastal on Resilience to Climate Change Background Study

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3367754 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dai-Long Ngo-Hoang ◽

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Local Knowledge

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Contrasting Evolution Patterns of Endorheic and Exorheic Lakes on the Central Tibetan Plateau and Climate Cause Analysis during 1988–2017

Water ◽

10.3390/w13141962 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 1962

Author(s):

Zhilong Zhao ◽

Yue Zhang ◽

Zengzeng Hu ◽

Xuanhua Nie

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Global Climate ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Annual Precipitation ◽

The Tibetan Plateau ◽

Lake Area ◽

Climate Change Research ◽

Mean Temperature

The alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are indicators of climate change. The assessment of lake dynamics on the TP is an important component of global climate change research. With a focus on lakes in the 33° N zone of the central TP, this study investigates the temporal evolution patterns of the lake areas of different types of lakes, i.e., non-glacier-fed endorheic lakes and non-glacier-fed exorheic lakes, during 1988–2017, and examines their relationship with changes in climatic factors. From 1988 to 2017, two endorheic lakes (Lake Yagenco and Lake Zhamcomaqiong) in the study area expanded significantly, i.e., by more than 50%. Over the same period, two exorheic lakes within the study area also exhibited spatio-temporal variability: Lake Gaeencuonama increased by 5.48%, and the change in Lake Zhamuco was not significant. The 2000s was a period of rapid expansion of both the closed lakes (endorheic lakes) and open lakes (exorheic lakes) in the study area. However, the endorheic lakes maintained the increase in lake area after the period of rapid expansion, while the exorheic lakes decreased after significant expansion. During 1988–2017, the annual mean temperature significantly increased at a rate of 0.04 °C/a, while the annual precipitation slightly increased at a rate of 2.23 mm/a. Furthermore, the annual precipitation significantly increased at a rate of 14.28 mm/a during 1995–2008. The results of this study demonstrate that the change in precipitation was responsible for the observed changes in the lake areas of the two exorheic lakes within the study area, while the changes in the lake areas of the two endorheic lakes were more sensitive to the annual mean temperature between 1988 and 2017. Given the importance of lakes to the TP, these are not trivial issues, and we now need accelerated research based on long-term and continuous remote sensing data.

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