{"id":272,"date":"2021-06-13T13:34:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T20:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/?p=272"},"modified":"2021-06-13T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T20:47:44","slug":"the-need-for-common-ground-a-transdisciplinary-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/the-need-for-common-ground-a-transdisciplinary-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Common Ground: A Transdisciplinary Approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"hand,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I sit and reflect on the past two weeks, my brain is cluttered with an abundance of information, weeding through themes, and picking out what I see as the driving force of climate action in todays world. What I\u2019ve found most intriguing is the role transdisciplinarity plays and the growing need to implement it in the field of climate action. McGregor (2014) defines transdisciplinarity as \u201cgoing beyond disciplines to engage civil society\u201d (p. 201). The need to transcend singular trains of thought and include a multitude of perspectives, ideologies, and expertise is how positive change can occur. After listening to the panel on, Climate Action: Designing with Policy in Mind<\/em>, I began thinking about how essential transdisciplinarity, listening from a place of empathy, and bipartisanship are, specifically, in the context of environmental policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At the heart of environmental policy is an increased need for bipartisanship in the political sphere. More often than not, we see the issues associated with climate change leveraged within political agendas cementing a tactic to lure in constituents who view climate related topics as a partisan issue. This has got to change. Our climate is not a partisan issue and should not be exploited in such a way. This tactic is simply baffling to me. The science is out there and the need is greater than ever to prioritize and demand climate action from all political parties, philosophies, sectors, and walks of life. A transdisciplinary agenda in a bipartisan setting can help bridge the divide and result in productive policy making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bipartisanship is defined by Harbridge et al. (2014) as both \u201cconcessions [made] by parties to meet in the middle\u2026and can be perceived as a focus on places of preexisting common ground\u201d (p. 331). My grandfather, Jacob Javits, was the Senator of the state of New York for nearly thirty years. He was a Republican at a time when Republicans were much different than they are today. He helped pass the Civil Rights Act alongside Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. and deeply believed in bipartisanship. When he passed away he left a legacy of working across the isle to find common ground and achieve a common goal. This type of bipartisanship, that my grandfather exemplified in his years in office, is largely hidden under the surface in todays political climate. To tackle climate change and to find common ground, bipartisanship must be the stepping stone on the path to more impactful environmental policy. We must reestablish the ability to disagree while simultaneously respecting our differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the core of underwhelming environmental policy lies the stark polarization between political parties, those that believe in climate science, and those that deny its very existence. The United States, where I am originally from, is the epitome of this conflict. Ehret et al. (2018) add that the \u201cUS congress has failed to act because of political polarization over climate policy\u201d (p. 308). This polarization is not new. It is deep rooted, difficult to fix, and requires a systematic makeover. The partisan divide in the United States \u201cprovides a good case for analyzing the problem of\u2026[climate change]\u2026because it has the dubious distinction of being a deeply polarized country [over] environmental politics\u201d (Brown & Hess, 2016, p. 972). We can\u2019t continue to avoid the unavoidable. It\u2019s time to set aside our bickering ways, redirect political discourse, and demand across the isle collaboration with regards to environmental policy making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we tackle this issue of integrating differing political viewpoints and perspectives into the writing and enactment of prompt, effective, and important environmental policy? I think it starts with listening from a place of empathy across sectors and to a wide variety of stakeholders and community members. Listening is fundamental to any real progress. Our leaders must listen to the communities most impacted by the harsh realities of a changing climate and bring those voices to the policy making table. When we listen from a place of empathy we \u201ctak[e] the perspective of the other and [feel] an emotional bond with that [person\u2019s story] (Brown et al., 2019, p. 11). By bringing empathy into policy making, transdisciplinarity into practice, and bipartisanship into politics we can foster inclusivity and lasting environmental policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"autumn,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, K., Adger, W. N., Devine-Wright, P., Anderies, J. M., Barr, S., Bousquet, F., Butler, C., Evans, L., Marshall, N., & Quinn, T. (2019). Empathy, place and identity interactions for sustainability. Global Environmental Change<\/em>, 56<\/em>, 11\u201317. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2019.03.003<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, K. P., & Hess, D. J. (2016). Pathways to policy: Partisanship and bipartisanship in renewable energy legislation. Environmental Politics<\/em>, 25<\/em>(6), 971\u2013990. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/09644016.2016.1203523<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ehret, P. J., Van Boven, L., & Sherman, D. K. (2018). Partisan Barriers to Bipartisanship. Social Psychological and Personality Science<\/em>, 9<\/em>(3), 308\u2013318. https:\/\/doi.org\/ 10.1177\/1948550618758709<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harbridge, L., Malhotra, N., & Harrison, B. F. (2014). Public Preferences for Bipartisanship in the Policymaking Process. Legislative Studies Quarterly<\/em>, 39<\/em>(3), 327\u2013355. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/lsq.12048<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McGregor, S. L. T. (2014). Transdisciplinarity and Conceptual Change. World Futures<\/em>, 70<\/em>(3-4), 200\u2013232. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/02604027.2014.934635<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I sit and reflect on the past two weeks, my brain is cluttered with an abundance of information, weeding through themes, and picking out what I see as the driving force of climate action in todays world. What I\u2019ve found most intriguing is the role transdisciplinarity plays and the growing need to implement it … Continue reading Finding Common Ground: A Transdisciplinary Approach<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":944,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cals501","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/tcecchetti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}