Category: CALS 501

As we’ve been honing out concept and reiterating our design in Unit 3, I’ve been reflecting on the need for uniqueness in our design. In the feedback provided by instructors, it was clear that we need to ensure our design is either adding something new or building off what already exists. Following up on this feedback has led me to discover many  exciting youth programs that already exist and that closely resemble our project; one such program is Youth Climate Lab. The Youth Climate Lab is a youth led organization that uses design thinking and works in partnership, including internationally and with indigenous communities, to “accelerate youth-led climate policy, projects and businesses” (Youth Climate Lab, n.d., Who We Are Section). As I explore these existing initiatives, I am stalled in my progress with our design concept: what is the value of creating something new – in our case a program for high-school students that guides them through the design thinking process to build climate solutions – rather than lending our support to a youth-led initiative such as Youth Climate Lab? As we learned in CALS502 – Communication for Climate Action and as shared in instructor feedback, youth are much more motivated to learn from a trusted source and from their peers (Hodson, 2019; personal communication, December 17, 2021). As well, youth often feel stifled by adult leadership. In one study, for example, young climate activists described adult-led initiatives as having aims and approaches that are sometimes incongruous for youth; research participants also felt that unless executive power was in youth’s hands, hierarchical power dynamics are inevitable (Elsen & Ord, 2021, Enabling Empowerment Section). I realize that we are welcome to build off existing initiatives in our design challenge; that said, I can’t help but feel regret that we didn’t consult with end users right from the beginning. It seems problematic to design something for youth, without centring their priorities and perspectives from the outset. I agree that “we gain empathy through conversations with end users. Design thinking holds that the person who experiences the problem has part of the solution and has an understanding of the context to/within which the solution will need to respond” (Royal Roads University, n.d., p.3). What power dynamics exist between us as designers and youth, and are we reinforcing those dynamics through our process? What is my value-added as an adult in designing a program for youth and how can it be right to initiate a project for them, unless they are leading from the beginning?

As I continue to work on decolonizing my perspective in CALS503– Climate Risk Management, I find myself slowing down to uncover underlying assumptions and taken for granted approaches. As Tuhiwai Smith explains, the dominant Western worldview that I was raised with contains oppressive and hierarchical rules and approaches that are taken for granted and thus often unconscious (2012, p.93-96). While Tuhiwai Smith’s work explores the impacts of the Western worldview on Indigenous Peoples in a research context, I see parallels with how youth might experience working and learning relationships with adults. This reflection brings me back to the drawing board when it comes to our design concept – as adults, is it even appropriate for us to be designing a youth program? These questions, as disruptive to our process as they may be, are helping me to unpack my assumptions and centre the end-user as I question my role and contributions to Climate Action Leadership.

References

Elsen, F., & Ord, J. (2021). The Role of Adults in “Youth Led” Climate Groups: Enabling Empowerment. Frontiers in Political Science. 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.641154

Hodson, J. (2019). An ecological model of climate marketing: A conceptual framework for understanding climate science related attitude and behavior change. Cogent Social Sciences 5(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1625101

Royal Roads University (n.d.) CALS 501 Learning Intensive – Design Thinking Process Worksheet. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://commons.royalroads.ca/cals501/wp-content/uploads/sites/97/2021/05/CAL-501-Design-Thinking-Learning-Intensive-Process-Worksheet-May-11-2021.pdf

Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2012).Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2^nd edition). Zed Books. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/royalroadsebooks/detail.action?docID=1426837

Youth Climate Lab (n.d.) Who We Are Section. https://www.youthclimatelab.org/team

CALS501 Assignment 4 – Unit 2

Although very different (or possibly precisely because they are), climate science and climate communication are inextricably intertwined. As I moved through the CALS500: Climate Science, Impacts and Services course, communication was the frame on which our learning rested: our assignments largely consisted of translating the science in a way that remained scientifically accurate while making it easier for general audiences to understand. These writing exercises allowed our instructors to assess whether we had understood the material, while at the same time providing essential practice opportunities for us to hone our science writing skills under their tutelage. An important message that I took away from our class discussions was that climate science is very limited in serving a broader audience outside the scientific community without communicators who help to translate the information, making it more relevant and easily understood by non-scientific audiences (personal communication, 2021).

While moving through the CALS500 course, I was aware of the power and privilege I was acquiring as I learned how to understand the science. Prior to taking this course, I lacked confidence and felt ill-equipped to create new content about climate change – I couldn’t move past simply passing on information and even then I was never sure if what I was reading was legitimate or misinformation, so I held back from sharing much. Now I have a new skill set that has been very empowering for me: I understand the technical vocabulary as well as the underlying principles and tools behind climate science and as a result, I can confidently interpret it. I have also been introduced to a wide variety of credible sources to draw from. That said, I now feel in some ways like I’ve joined the ranks of gatekeepers: unless these data interpretation skills and knowledge about which resources are credible is shared, audiences are reliant on a very small number of us to interpret and share the science with them; they are dependent on us and we become curators of information. How can I contribute to reducing that barrier to understanding so that access to this knowledge can be a shared privilege? This reflection leads me to think about my team’s design challenge concept – since our problem statement included a desire to “empower youth to design climate adaptation strategies” (Hunter et al., 2021), how can we help the youth to become their own science translators and communicators, rather than relying on someone like me to be a gatekeeper and conduit for that knowledge?

As I got a taste for the role of communications in translating climate science this summer, in CALS 502 my understanding of the interactions between science and communication deepened as I read in Segel’s article that “science narrative(s) become intuitions and a part of our identity” (2019). How fascinating – and true – that scientific facts become ingrained in our consciousness and embed themselves in the narratives we carry around about who we are, where we come from and where we’re going (Segel, 2019). Science as story is a powerful way to convey science in an accessible way. What Segal describes is masterfully demonstrated in indigenous storytelling practices – indigenous knowledge synergizes science and communication, embedding scientific knowledge into stories in a way that preserves crucial scientific information while making it useful and understandable for different audiences (First Nations Pedagogy Online, 2009). Interesting also that this approach is so intentionally inclusive and accessible: “In oral traditions such as ours, telling stories is how we pass on the history and the teachings of our ancestors. Without these stories, we would have to rely on other people for guidance and information about our past” (Hanna & Henry, 1995, p. 201, as cited by First Nations Pedagogy Online, 2009).

It is abundantly clear that youth need to be engaged more in climate mitigation and adaptation work (Moser 2017, p.10). As Laura shared in the feedback session following our Design Concept presentation during the Intensive, something that is lacking in terms of youth involvement is for youth to be engaged beyond tokenism and simply voicing their concerns, instead empowering them to meaningfully enter decision-making spaces (Hunter et al., 2021). Could focusing on tools and training to help youth interpret the science and to know where to look for reliable information be an important and unmet need to meaningfully empower youth, and is this something my design challenge team could consider? I think the potential for empowerment is all the more potent for indigenous youth, who could harness their indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding in combination to address the wicked problems of this crisis.

References:

First Nations Pedagogy Online (2009). Storytelling. [web content] https://firstnationspedagogy.ca/storytelling.html

Hunter, E., Kippenhuck, C., Paul, A. & Ponette, M. (2021). TeamBraidingInitialConceptPresentation.mp4 [recording]. https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/local/kalturamediagallery/index.php?courseid=8518  

Moser, S., Coffee, J., and Sevile A. (2017) Rising to the Challenge, Together: A Review and Critical Assessment of the State of the US Climate Adaptation Field. Kresge Foundation, 106 pp.

Segel, M. (2019). To fix the climate movement, tell better stories: The missing climate change narrative. Nautilus. http://nautil.us/issue/75/story/to-fix-the-climate-tell-better-stories-rp