Written by Emiko Wijeysundera.
On May 26th, the Climate Solutions Research Collective hosted a Climate Conversation, focusing on relational approaches to climate research engagement, featuring Dr. Love-Ese Chile (Network Manager for the BC Agricultural Climate Action Research Network based at the Centre of Sustainable Food Systems (LFS)) and Visiting Scholar Dr. Jill Zarestky, (Associate Professor, Adult Education and Training program in the School of Education at Colorado State University).
A diverse group from across UBC gathered for an engaging and generative conversation on methods and reflections on sharing research and knowledge outside the boundaries of the university. Faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students participated, representing a diverse range of programs across campus, including the Faculties of Medicine, Land and Food Systems, Applied Science, Arts, Science, and Education, as well as the Institute of Oceans and Fisheries, School of Information, Centre for Climate Justice, and the UBC Farm.
The conversation touched on a variety of topics and case studies, but returned again and again to a few central questions:
‘What is the purpose of research?
And, if intended to facilitate the exchange of knowledge as connection and through community, why does education matter?
How is education different from communication?
Both Jill and Love-Ese shared that they believe there is an obligation for universities to engage with communities on the research that they are doing, a sentiment shared by those participating in the conversation. This is especially relevant in the context of climate change research, where results directly inform and affect everyone’s daily lives, not just those in research and academia. In practice, this can sometimes be challenging; there is tension between information pushing and a relational way of understanding knowledge.
An example of this in practice, introduced by Jill, is this program in Colorado to help farmers and small businesses use the new emerging science from university to prepare for drought and climate. To her, the key is that successful engagement and education requires building relationships with people, learning what they need to learn and making sense of how the research affects them in their lives. Both relevance and context are crucial. Jill shared an anecdote from her own experience as a Visiting Scholar - hearing that BC was entering into a drought did not reconcile with her own experiences of drought in Colorado where she is based.
Another exceptional resource is the network that Love-Ese manages, the BC Agricultural Climate Action Research Network. This network works as a conduit between community members, business communities, and researchers to disseminate knowledge between these varied groups, inspired by the gift economy. Love-Ese is inspired by the Solarpunk movement, which centers abundance and reciprocity, people and place, and hope and imagination. Through solarpunk, we can imagine positive, communal futures, and Love-Ese uses this as a method to form symbiotic and cyclical relationships with others and the environment. To her, building community requires a communal story that everyone is able to write themselves into. This requires a shift from current research sharing practices, which often present the story without allowing communities to meaningfully engage with it.
I left the conversation with a few takeaways.
- There is a spectrum of engagement.
- Community engagement is a long game in a space that often prioritizes and rewards fast scholarship.
- It can be valuable to allow folks spaces to gather outside of the project with no specific intention in mind.
Interested in future Climate Conversations? Check out our events calendar!
