Climate Change Adaptation and the Necessary Synergy of Science and Social Studies

• In Event: 56.053 - Developing Environmental Citizens: Leveraging Disciplinary Strengths to Address an Interdisciplinary Challenge

Abstract

This conceptual paper focuses on the role of education in climate change adaptation (CCA), and explores how this complex issue illuminates the necessary synergy between science and social studies education, and the ongoing relevance of both disciplinary fields in the deeply interdisciplinary terrain of environmental education.

In educational research and practice, climate change is typically framed as something to understand and/or prevent (National Research Council, 2011). Yet the impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world (IPCC, 2013). Shifting patterns of temperature and precipitation exert far-reaching impacts on human and natural systems, both changing lives (Parry, 2007) and ending them (Patz et al., 2005). Although reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains important, many scientists and policy-makers believe it is time to begin adapting to changes already "baked in" to the chemical composition of the atmosphere (IPCC, 2013).
The role of education in this process, though important, is still poorly defined. If we as educators allow the social urgency of the task to overtake us, we risk compromising the principles of environmental education by prioritizing immediate threats at the expense of long-term socio-ecological wellbeing (Krasny & DuCroix, 2016). On the other hand, if we focus on the technical aspects of adaptation, we risk lapsing into an anti-democratic policy framework in which scientists and engineers are presumed to know the answers to society’s problems (Feinstein & Kirchgasler, 2015).

One of the most promising trends in the literature on CCA is the rise of adaptive co-management, a participatory policy-making process that brings together sophisticated technical knowledge with the diverse values and perspectives embedded in our society (Armitage, Berkes, and Doubleday, 2010). The scholars who study adaptive co-management point out that it relies on people being well-prepared to learn from complex socio-ecological experiences (Armitage, Marschke, & Plummer, 2008). Krasny and Roth (2010) suggest that Environmental Education can play a crucial role in preparing people, individually and collectively, to participate in adaptive co-management. While these scholars justifiably emphasize the importance of working together in authentic communities of practice, their focus on after-school and community settings neglects the potential contribution of school-based science and social studies educators.

I argue that the interdisciplinary work of adaptive co-management requires capacities that lie at the intersection of science and civic participation, and that these capacities are best developed by science and social studies educators working collaboratively. I deconstruct the process of adaptive co-management, demonstrating that its success depends upon (1) integrating scientific data into participatory processes, (2) understanding the social consequences of scientific uncertainty, and (3) forging local meanings around larger-scale scientific data. Then, drawing on recent research and educational standards documents, I show how each of these three capacities is compatible with the stated goals and priorities of school-based science and social studies education—and none of them is likely to be accomplished by science or social studies educators acting alone.

Author

• Noah Weeth Feinstein, University of Wisconsin - Madison