Month: May 2022

Reflections On Leadership

“Turning the tide on climate change by Robert Kandel” by Philippe 2009 licensed under CC BY 2.0

This post is a reflection of my experience so far of CALS501: Leading Climate Action in Society – Part 1, a two week Learning Intensive, where I ponder the question: What is Climate Action Leadership and why does it matter? I’ll start with the why by starting with the science and then review the professional competencies and wrap up with skills and traits that combine to help form a leadership identity.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Summary for Policymakers (2022) provides evidence that the observed impacts and risks from climate change are already being experienced. This is a clear statement that the climate change crisis demands immediate action. In BC we are seeing a significant increase in awareness and dialogue resulting from the climate related events of 2021 (heat dome, wildfires, atmospheric rivers). These events have had catastrophic impacts to infrastructure, the environment, and people’s lives. With the news that Canada is warming on average at double the global rate (Bush & Lemmen, 2019) and a new study reporting estimates that the cost in Canada of non-action being up to $45.5 billion more than it would be for the required investment into Greenhouse Gas reductions (The Tyee, 2022), the time is now for Climate Action Leaders to step forward.

Given that climate change is an outcome of multiple interrelated systems with reinforcing feedback loops, taking the lead in climate action necessarily means understanding the foundations of complex systems theory.

With the impacts becoming increasingly difficult to ignore it appears that we are starting to see a paradigm shift towards increasing renewable energy and Greenhouse Gas mitigations and away from reliance on fossil fuels. According to Donella Meadows in Thinking in Systems, a paradigm shift can be one of the most influential levers for systems change (Meadows, 2008). Citing Thomas Kuhn, Meadows argues that using this lever means:

“In a nutshell, you keep pointing at the anomalies and failures in the old paradigm, you keep speaking louder and with assurance from the new one, you insert people with the new paradigm in places of public visibility and power”

(Meadows, 2008, p.20)

However, to be an effective climate action leader, one needs more than to be in a place of visibility and power, they need to be competent in the skills to drive the necessary actions.

The Adaptation Learning Network has developed a Competency Framework that describes climate adaptation competency domains (Cox et al, 2021). The breadth of the framework highlights the need for transdisciplinary leaders who can work across disciplines on complex systemic problems. Here are three examples:

  1. The Iterative Risk Management competency, where research into the electricity sector has identified the need to integrate transdisciplinary knowledge into the processes to meet the needs of Climate Change due to the extent this sector and the population it serves will be impacted (Gerlack et al, 2018).
  2. The Climate Adaptation Leadership domain, where soft skills, such as cultural and emotional intelligence, are crucial.
  3. The Working Together in Climate Adaptation domain. Here we can see that a good leader needs to build community and to be able to act in just ways, to embody ‘right relations’ meaning to act responsibly towards all other beings (Gram-Hanssen, 2021).

While climate action leadership does not require one to be an expert in climate science, it does benefit from leaders who are creative, transdisciplinary, and who can engage in design thinking, a method well suited for working across disciplines on complex problems (Cormon & Cox, 2020). Finally, and perhaps as important as the competencies described, is the identity and vision that the leader projects. In a world filled with dystopic stories and seemingly little hope, an effective leader needs the confidence to stand up and share a positive vision to inspire and guide others to act along with them. Perhaps this might come from their ability to transcend the paradigm of the moment, as Meadows (2008) suggests, and through their own enlightenment inspire others to join with them in action.

If you’re new to this Climate Action Leadership realm and this post made you feel a little anxious that this is all a bit too big and complicated, then why not give @EcoAnxious.ca a follow on Twitter and if you’re feeling ready to take a step forward yourself, then check out their site EcoAnxious.ca for lots of great ideas – thanks to Kari Tyler from the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium for the recommendation.

References

Bush, E. & Lemmen, D.S. editors (2019): Canada’s Changing Climate Report; Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON. 444 p. https://changingclimate.ca/CCCR2019/

Corman, I. & Cox, R. (2020). Transdisciplinarity: A Primer. Royal Roads University. https://commons.royalroads.ca/macal/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2021/04/MACAL_Transdisciplinary_Thinking03-31-21-3.pdf

Cox, R., Niederer, S, Forssman, V, Sikorski, L. (2021). Climate Adaptation Competency Framework. https://adaptationlearningnetwork.com/sites/weadapt.org/files/aln-competencyframework_2021_1.pdf

Gram-Hanssen, I., Schafenacker, N., & Bentz, J. (2021). Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations.’ Sustainability Science, 17(2), 673-685. Retrieved 10 May. 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00960-9   

Gerlak, A. K., Weston, J., McMahan, B., Murray, R. L., & Mills-Novoa, M. (2018). Climate risk management and the electricity sector. Climate Risk Management, 19, 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.12.003

Meadows, D.H. (2008). Leverage Points – Places to Intervene. In D. Wright (ed.), Thinking in Systems: A Primer. London and Sterling, VA: Earthscan.

Willcott, N., & Cleary, S. (2022, May 24). ‘The Business Case for Net Zero’: Cutting emissions is costly. But far less expensive than doing nothing and facing economic consequences. The Tyee. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/05/23/Business-Case-Net-Zero/ 

Transformative Reflections

If I had to choose one word to describe the learnings from the first week of the Masters of Climate Action Leadership it would be hopeful. This is partly due to the standout session where I had the honour of participating in an Indigenous circle led by Michael Lickers. My team had asked what his perspective on what a decolonized world would look like. I thought it would help to have a hopeful vision as a guide for future practice. Michael quickly reminded us that, as described by Gram-Hanssen (2021), decolonization is itself a colonizer’s word and thus problematic. He then went on to expand on the concept of transformation being about coming up with something new rather than destruction, which is a concept that I’m learning through this program and, which in itself is a hopeful future vision.

As we engaged in further dialogue I was drawn deeper into the concept of ‘right relations’ and I realized that I have much work to do to embody the characteristics put forward by Gram-Hanssen: listening deeply, self-reflexivity, creating space and being in action. (2021)

“Right Relations, then can be seen as an obligation to live up to the responsibilities involved when taking part in a relationship – be it to other humans, other species, the land or climate.”

(Gram-Hanssen 2021, p.678)

Later, as I reflected on our talk and readings on the topic, I was gazing at ‘Eagle Spirits’, a John Rombough painting, on the wall in my home office, and it made me wonder about the artist’s story and how right relations may have impacted him and his community. This was my first purchase of an original work of art which, at the time, made me feel as though I had stepped through the threshold into adulthood. Rombough credits his birth mother’s Ukranian Heritage for also informing his style, a style which a local critic opines is an extension of the Indigenous Group of Seven. (Grunwald, 2022, para. 31) For me this is an interesting visual example of the possibilities of transformation.

Eagle Spirits, Lutsel K’e, NT by John Rombough 09/22/2000

In the circle we discussed the importance of being able to participate in the economy, such as it exists, and it made me wonder if this young artist was able to go on to thrive in his work. I Googled him and this small act of academic procrastination took me to a place of deeper understanding of the assigned readings. Not only did I feel good in knowing that Rombough is doing well, as told in his own words in an interview with CBC News (Grunwald, 2022), but it brought me to a place of deeper connection of the kind described by Gram-Hanssen. (2022) as I read about how his family was impacted by the the ‘sixties scoop’. (Grunwald, 2022, para. 10) I then explored a bit more about his community and found a good example of ‘right relations’ in action through the Indigenous Guardian Program and the Ni Hat’ni Dene Rangers in Lutsel K’e. The kind of reconciliation programs that feel in tune with the concept of right relations. However, the impact of this one reconciliation program seems to be relatively small for the community. The overall economic outlook isn’t as positive as shown in this excerpt from their Community Infographic produced by the Northwest Territories Government.

Equitable participation in the economy?

(Government of Northwest Territories, 2022)

I’m reminded of how we are all connected and how important engaging in the act of righting relations is if society is to over come the climate crisis and move from adaptation to a more hopeful transformation. For me, philosophically, this concept of transformation was my first surprising new learning of the program so far. I find it empowering to reframe how I was thinking of climate adaptation as only in the negative rather than as an opportunity for “generating equitable and sustainable transformations.” (Gram-Hanssen et al., 2022, p.773).

As I write and reflect on these ideas I’m taking my first aspirational steps towards a deeper understanding of what it means to create space for voices of the oppressed to be heard by “decolonizing our practice at every turn.” (Gram-Hanssen, p.681). I’m sharing my thoughts and hoping for feedback to foster dialogue with those outside of my typical circle to help me develop transdisciplinary thinking in my practice. My goal is to get to that place where we can envision solutions that help to address the complex and wicked problems that the climate crisis presents. (Corman & Cox, 2020)

References

Corman, I., & Cox, R. (2020). Transdisciplinarity: A Primer. Royal Roads University.https://commons.royalroads.ca/macal/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2021/04/MACAL_Transdisciplinary_Thinking03-31-21-3.pdf

Government of Northwest Territories. (2022). Lutselk’e 2019 Community Survey. Downloaded 2022-05-14 from www.statsnwt.ca/community-data/CommunityInfographics/community%20-%20Lutselke.pdf

Gram-Hanssen, I., Schafenacker, N., & Bentz, J. (2021). Decolonizing transformations through ‘right relations.’ Sustainability Science, 17(2), 673–685. Retrieved 10 May. 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00960-9

Grunwald, Emma (2022, March 13). Finding his Dene family brought colour into John Rombough’s art. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/artist-john-rombough-dene-connection-1.6383392

Indigenous Leadership Initiative. New Video spotlights indigenous guardians leadership on the land. Retrieved 10 May 2022, from https://www.ilinationhood.ca/blog/new-video-spotlights-indigenous-guardians-leadership-on-the-land

Rombough, John. Eagle Spirits. 2000. Oil. Vancouver.

Smith, M.(2016). Indian Group of Seven . In The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. : Taylor and Francis. Retrieved 15 May. 2022, from https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/indian-group-of-seven. doi:10.4324/9781135000356-REM835-1