1x06 Giving voices to local experiences of climate change, vulnerability, and adaptation, with Prof Petra Tschakert and Prof James Ford

The Climate Press

In this episode we talk with Petra Tschakert, Centenary Professor in Rural Development at the University of Western Australia, and James Ford, Professor in Climate Adaptation at the University of Leeds. Petra and James have worked at local level with communities from Senegal, Ghana, the Himalayas, India, Nepal, Australia, Northern Canada and Greenland, and have the unique and invaluable experience of learning about the changes in climate that are being experienced by people locally. Our special guests share with us their insights about participatory learning, how communities and researchers learn from the past, and designing future storylines about how to adapt to a climate that is certainly changing over time.

We will learn more about what does vulnerability mean, why it “does not fall from the sky”, as Jesse Ribot would say, and why under the same level of exposure to the same climate hazard, vulnerability predispose a specific segment of society to be more harmed.

Petra and James talk to us about adaptive decision making, climate migration patterns, as well as the strength (and erosion) of social cohesion. We also learn how local experiences of place-based, and value-based, adaptation are informing local and national policy agendas.

Full of examples and anecdotes, this episode will transport us to different parts of the world, where different communities use their unique ways knowing to adapt to the different ways in that climate change is manifesting in their daily lives. Listen to our latest vibrant episode and discover the human dimension of a change that is not only climatic but also local and cultural.

We hope you enjoy it!