Enabling new mindsets and transformative skills for negotiating and activating climate action: Lessons from UNFCCC conferences of the parties

"No one talks about it": using emotional methodologies to overcome climate silence and inertia in Higher Education

Higher Education (HE) is, at best, struggling to rise to the challenges of the climate and ecological crises (CEC) and, at worst, actively contributing to them by perpetuating particular ways of knowing, relating, and acting. Calls for HE to radically transform its activities in response to the polycrises abound, yet questions about how this will be achieved are often overlooked. This article proposes that a lack of capacity to express and share emotions about the CEC in universities is at the heart of their relative climate silence and inertia. We build a theoretical and experimental justification for the importance of climate emotions in HE, drawing on our collective experience of the Climate Lab project (2021-2023), a series of in-person and online workshops that brought together scientists, engineers, and artists. We analyse the roles of grief, vulnerability, and creativity in the conversations that occurred, and explore these exchanges as potential pathways out of socially organised climate denial in neoliberal institutions. By drawing on the emerging field of "emotional methodologies," we make a case for the importance of emotionally reflexive practices for overcoming an institutionalised disconnect between feeling and knowing, especially in Western-disciplinary contexts. We suggest that if staff and students are afforded opportunities to connect with their emotions about the CEC, then institutional transformation is (a) more likely to happen and be meaningfully sustained and (b) less likely to fall into the same problematic patterns of knowledge and action that perpetuate these crises. This profound, sometimes uncomfortable, emotionally reflexive work is situated in the wider context of glimpsing decolonial futures for universities, which is an integral step towards climate and ecological justice.

Collaborative governance and personal relationships for sustainability transformation in the textile sector

This paper explores the potential for collaborative governance in the textile sector to act as a catalyst for sustainability transformation. The article originated from a 4-year research project examining a multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI), the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles. It sheds light on the complex but interdependent connections between collaborative governance and personal relationships. While emphasising the role played by MSIs in creating important space for negotiating interests, it points towards the co-benefits of building relationships beyond stakeholder boundaries. Obstacles such as governance structures and the fragmentation of the governance landscape hinder opportunities for personal, political, and practical transformation. While highlighting the importance of private governance, it also stresses the role of state regulation in global economies, e.g. in the current debate on the EU Due Diligence Act. Finally, suggestions are made for designing governance spaces that support the development of social relationships while promoting transformation by ensuring the equal participation of stakeholders, employing learning and facilitation experts, and promoting joint decision-making processes.

Magnesium calcites for CO2 capture and thermochemical energy storage using the calcium-looping process

In this study, a precipitation-based synthesis method has been employed to prepare magnesium calcites with the general formula Ca1-xMgxCO3, with the objective of use them in the calcium looping (CaL) process for CO2 capture (CaL-CCS) and thermochemical energy storage (CaL-CSP). The structure and microstructure of the samples have been characterized. It has been found by X-ray diffraction that the samples with a Ca:Mg molar ratio of 0.5:0.5 and 0.55:0.45 are phase pure, while the samples with molar ratios of 0.7:0.3 and 0.8:0.2 are composed by two phases with different stoichiometry. In addition, the sample prepared with calcium alone shows the aragonite phase. The microstructure of the magnesium-containing samples is composed of nanocrystals, which are aggregated in spherical particles whereas the aragonite sample presents a typical rod-like morphology. The multicycle tests carried out under CaL-CCS conditions show that an increase on the MgO content in the calcined samples results in a reduced value of effective conversion when compared to aragonite. On the other hand, under CaL-CSP conditions, the samples with the higher MgO content exhibit nearly stable effective conversion values around 0.5 after 20 cycles, which improve the results obtained for aragonite and those reported for natural dolomite tested under the same conditions.

Fostering collective climate action and leadership: Insights from a pilot experiment involving mindfulness and compassion

Recent research suggests that mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion relate to inner transformative qualities/capacities and intermediary factors that can support increased pro-environmental behavior and attitudes across individual, collective, organizational, and system levels. However, current insights focus on the individual level, are restricted to certain sustainability fields, and wider experimental evidence is scarce and contradictory. Our pilot study addresses this gap and tests the aforementioned proposition in the context of an intervention: an EU Climate Leadership Program for high-level decision-makers. The intervention was found to have significant effects on transformative qualities/capacities, intermediary factors, and pro-environmental behaviors and engagement across all levels. The picture is, however, more complex for pro-environmental attitudes. With due limitations (e.g., small sample size), this preliminary evidence confirms the feasibility and potential of mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions to foster inner-outer transformation for sustainability and climate action. Aspects that should be taken into account in larger confirmatory trials are discussed.

Getting personal with collaborative sustainability experimentation: Reflections and recommendations from a transdisciplinary partnership with the Swedish craft beer sector

This paper provides reflections on transdisciplinary knowledge coproduction and experimentation processes from sustainability researcher perspectives. It centers on a 5-year period of collaborative research with small- and medium-sized enterprises in an Urban Living Lab in the Swedish craft beer sector. Nine reflections cover a variety of issues and potentials encountered during numerous interactions with societal partners, and are structured by three levels: organizational, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Based on the reflections, authors then propose a set of seven considerations and recommendations for how to more effectively collaborate in such transdisciplinary constellations. The recommendations apply across the three levels, and describe an approach to collaborative research that asks the researcher to be open, transparent, self-aware and intentional, reflective and reflexive, and both adaptive and flexible. Furthermore, they aim to create soft structures to facilitate understanding and mutual learning, such as designating "organizational champions", as well as to embed collaborative reflections into recurring meetings with partners to maintain trust and capture sustainability knock-on opportunities as they arise.

At the intersection of mind and climate change: integrating inner dimensions of climate change into policymaking and practice

Dominant policy approaches have failed to generate action at anywhere near the rate, scale or depth needed to avert climate change and environmental disaster. In particular, they fail to address the need for a fundamental cultural transformation, which involves a collective shift in mindsets (values, beliefs, worldviews and associated inner human capacities). Whilst scholars and practitioners are increasingly calling for more integrative approaches, knowledge on how the link between our mind and the climate crisis can be best addressed in policy responses is still scarce. Our study addresses this gap. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews with high-level policymakers worldwide, we explore how they perceive the intersection of mind and climate change, how it is reflected in current policymaking and how it could be better considered to support transformation. Our findings show, on the one hand, that the mind is perceived as a victim of increasing climate impacts. On the other hand, it is considered a key driver of the crisis, and a barrier to action, to the detriment of both personal and planetary wellbeing. The resultant vicious cycle of mind and climate change is, however, not reflected in mainstream policymaking, which fails to generate more sustainable pathways. At the same time, there are important lessons from other fields (e.g. education, health, the workplace, policy mainstreaming) that provide insights into how to integrate aspects of mind into climate policies. Our results show that systematic integration into policymaking is a key for improving both climate resilience and climate responsiveness across individual, collective, organisational and system levels and indicate the inner human potential and capacities that support related change. We conclude with some policy recommendations and further research that is needed to move from a vicious to a virtuous cycle of mind and climate change that supports personal and planetary wellbeing.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-022-03398-9.

Testing the quality of transformative science methods: the example of the Human Scale Development approach

Scholars and funding bodies alike are increasingly calling for transformative research that delivers socially robust and impact-oriented outcomes. This paper argues that the Human Scale Development approach (HSDA) introduced by Max-Neef and colleagues in Latin America during the 1980s can serve as a method for transformative science (TSc). HSDA is both a theory and a participatory methodology and thus contributes toward fulfilling the objectives of TSc, which are scientific, practical and educational. In this paper, we begin by explicating how the fundamental human needs (FHN) approach of the HSDA can support scholars and practitioners alike in addressing complex sustainability challenges. We then refer to the methodological adaptations to the original proposal that we have previously developed to illustrate how Max-Neef's methodological approach might be further extended and to demonstrate how these changes can strengthen HSDA and make it even more useful for generating knowledge needed in sustainability transformations. To inform and support research that builds on the co-production of knowledge, we test HSDA with regard to TSc quality criteria and show how it adds value to the existing canon of TSc methods. To this end, we develop an analytical framework that can be deployed to assess the quality of TSc methods.

Fostering Cultures of Sustainability in a Multi-Unit Office Building: A Theory of Change

Psychological approaches to fostering sustainability are heavily focused on individual behaviors and often insufficiently address the physical and social contexts individuals are embedded in. This limits the ability to create meaningful, long-lasting change, as many of day-to-day behaviors are social practices embedded in broader cultural norms and systems. This is particularly true in the work context, where organizational cultures heavily condition both the actions of individual employees and the collective actions of organizations. Thus, we argue cultures, not behaviors, must become the focus of sustainability change efforts. In this paper, we present a theory of change aimed at fostering strong organizational cultures of sustainability (COS) within a high-performance multi-tenant office building. Our theory takes a systems perspective that incorporates the social and physical aspects of the work environment, and views culture change as a co-creative exercise involving engagement of multiple stakeholders. The paper concludes with implications for practice and research.

Multi-Criteria Method for the Selection of Renewable Energy Sources in the Polish Industrial Sector

Rational decision-making requires assessing the advantages and disadvantages of options, including nonmarket effects (such as environmental effects). This also applies to strategic decision-making in the industrial sector to select alternative renewable energy source (RES). Often, a variety of criteria can be used to select a renewable energy source, whereas no ideal family of criteria for renewable energy selection for industry has been defined in the literature. It was concluded that there is a need to support the actions of industrial development based on RES, which will contribute significantly to overcoming the limitations of the negative effect on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. There is a clear need for a systematic and polyvalent multicriteria approach to planning in industry. Therefore, a method for choosing the preferred renewable source of electricity for industry has been developed, which considers key criteria of RES choice: Expert opinions, the costs of obtaining the energy and maintaining energy installations, and the volume of electricity from RES. This article offers a modified multicriteria selection method based on a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) and the technique for preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS), integrated with a qualitative price analysis (ACJ). This new method was tested through a case study on selecting a preferred RES in Polish industrial conditions. The research results indicate that the proposed method of choosing the preferred renewable energy source can be used in industrial enterprises that strive to meet their energy needs in accordance with the principles of social responsibility.

How Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change Can Help Coastal Communities through a Participatory Approach

Coastal rural communities worldwide face many challenges not only related to climate change but also extreme events, environmental degradation, population growth or aging, and conflict usage of the ecosystem. Historically, the economies of coastal communities have been based on the exploitation of natural resources, thus shaping its socioeconomic development. This has led to some limitations in the way these communities can now adapt to climate change. In Canada, coastal communities are increasingly dealing with climate change consequences. Sea level rise, coastal erosion, and increasing frequency in storm surges threaten the fragility of both natural and human systems. Various approaches have been used to try to reduce the vulnerability and improve adaptive capacity of communities. One approach, promoted by many organizations including the United Nations, is ecosystem-based adaptation. This approach is part of the series of nature-based solutions that help social–ecological systems become more resilient; by promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, this approach also relates to principles of community engagement and supports adaptive governance and social inclusion. This paper describes and analyzes these principles and considers strategies for ensuring community engagement. Combining ecosystem-based adaptation with a strong community engagement can enhance the long-term sustainability of the social-ecological system.