Understandings, Practices and Human-Environment Relationships - A Meta-Ethnographic Analysis of Local and Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies in Selected Pacific Island States

Local and Indigenous knowledge systems worldwide indicate adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. Particularly in regions that are massively affected by climatic changes, such as the Pacific Island States, there is a need for increased and combined research on the role which these knowledge systems can play internationally. For this reason, this article provides a synthesis of empirical results and approaches to local and Indigenous climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in selected South Pacific Island States by using a meta-ethnographic approach. The reviewed literature is associated with the sub-disciplinary perspective of the Anthropology of Climate Change. The results of the meta-ethnographic analysis are discussed based on three thematic focal points: First, the empirical ground of local understandings of climate change and its theoretical conceptualization(s) are constituted. Second, the results of practices for adaptation to climate change are synthesized and presented in detail throughout one example. Third, the synthesis of climate change mitigation practices is outlined with a specific focus on human-environment relationships

Why context matters for educational policy - analysing interactive practice in the governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany

The implementation of global educational policies such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) entails different national strategies despite its international character. In Germany, the transfer of ESD is characterized by a multi-actor process including representatives from academia, administration, civil society organisations (CSOs), and educational practice – coordinated by the national state. On the basis of five focus group discussions, we examined how the individual actors coordinated their actions in this process. The results show that the communicative interactions of multi-actor processes mirror the specificity of the education sectors’ structures and dynamics. In our analysis, we thus conclude that ESD governance is more than a question of national and regional structures: we argue that an understanding of the structures and cultures of the involved educational areas can contribute to a differentiated knowledge for future ESD policies. (DIPF/Orig.)Die Umsetzung globaler bildungspolitischer Programme wie Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) unterscheidet sich im Vergleich nationaler Strategien. In Deutschland ist der Transfer von BNE durch einen staatlich koordinierten Multiakteursprozess mit Beteiligung von Verwaltungsvertreter/-innen, zivilgesellschaftlichen und bildungspraktischen Akteur/-innen, Wissenschaftler/-innen etc. gekennzeichnet. Basierend auf fünf Fokusgruppendiskussionen wurde die Handlungskoordination dieser Akteur/-innen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die interaktive Praxis der Akteur/-innen, die den Umsetzungsprozess von Policy Prozessen beeinflusst, stark durch bildungsbereichsspezifische Strukturen und Dynamiken geprägt ist. In unserer Analyse kommen wir so zu dem Schluss, dass BNE-Governance mehr ist als eine Frage nationaler oder regionaler Strukturen: Es ist vielmehr ein Verständnis der Strukturen und Kulturen der einzelnen Bildungsbereiche, die ein Wissen für zukünftige Policy-Strategien der BNE-Verankerung beisteuern kann. (DIPF/Orig.

The self in the mirror: fostering researchers’ reflexivity in transdisciplinary and transformative studies at the science-policy interface

Reflexivity is a key expectation that researchers in transdisciplinary and transformative research for sustainable development need to meet. Its aim is to enable researchers to deal with normativity, to contribute to identifying and balancing different actors’ interests in processes of knowledge production, and to strengthen a pluralistic view of implicit assumptions. When designing and realizing transdisciplinary and transformative studies, researchers face a central question: How can we develop reflexive practices and live up to the demands of such work? Considering the important role that reflexivity plays in transdisciplinary approaches, it is surprising that only few approaches have explored the specific characteristics of reflexive practices empirically and analyzed how these practices are cultivated when doing transdisciplinary and transformative research. In this article we address this research gap by presenting and discussing a case in which researchers attempted to professionalize their reflexive practices at the science-policy interface (SPI). As part of the national Monitoring of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany, we used the method of collaborative autoethnography to systematically reflect on our own thinking and actions as researchers at the SPI over a period of 11 months. Based on an analysis of 66 situations in which we took field notes, we synthesized core topics of reflection and challenges encountered throughout the process (roles, relationship patterns, and normativity) in six collaborative interpretation sessions and analyzed them to understand our own practices of engagement within the field. Grounded in this analysis of our own selves as researchers looking in the mirror, we develop hypotheses about how our specific methodological approach helped us on a practical level to foster different kinds of reflexivity. With this two-fold approach, we aim to contribute to a better understanding of possible topics, challenges, and pathways of (increased) reflexivity among researchers working at the SPI

Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany

The educational governance discourse aims at capturing how different actors, participating in a specific political process, coordinate their actions while working together within multi-actor policy networks. In Germany, such multi-actor policy networks have set up ambitious political goals on the implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) that has resulted in the National Action Plan. The current domestic slogan “From Project to Structure” reveals the overall aim of scaling ESD. In this article, a governance perspective is used to examine how the actors involved in ESD in Germany coordinate their actions with each other. Six focus group discussions for different educational areas were conducted and analyzed with a structuring content analysis in MAXQDA. Additionally, an in-depth case comparison of the actors from different sectors (administration, politics, academia, civil society, and educational practice) was carried out. The results show sector-specific boundary work—the way in which actors construe, maintain, or even bridge boundaries when coordinating their actions in scaling ESD. Actors from the various sectors positioned themselves in patterns of more structure-immanent or more structure-transcending positionings. The conclusion shows that reflection and relational agency is pivotal for cooperation within multi-stakeholder governance networks and for moving strategically within structures

Understandings, Practices and Human-Environment Relationships—A Meta-Ethnographic Analysis of Local and Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies in Selected Pacific Island States

Local and Indigenous knowledge systems worldwide indicate adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. Particularly in regions that are massively affected by climatic changes, such as the Pacific Island States, there is a need for increased and combined research on the role which these knowledge systems can play internationally. For this reason, this article provides a synthesis of empirical results and approaches to local and Indigenous climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in selected South Pacific Island States by using a meta-ethnographic approach. The reviewed literature is associated with the sub-disciplinary perspective of the Anthropology of Climate Change. The results of the meta-ethnographic analysis are discussed based on three thematic focal points: First, the empirical ground of local understandings of climate change and its theoretical conceptualization(s) are constituted. Second, the results of practices for adaptation to climate change are synthesized and presented in detail throughout one example. Third, the synthesis of climate change mitigation practices is outlined with a specific focus on human-environment relationships

One Transformation Path Does Not Fit All—Insights into the Diffusion Processes of Education for Sustainable Development in Different Educational Areas in Germany

While Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly being implemented in educational systems, monitoring projects which capture the status and diffusion processes of ESD are also gaining relevance. The article presents part of the national monitoring of ESD in Germany—a qualitative expert interview study—which aims to analyze the diffusion process of ESD in different educational areas (early childhood education, school education, vocational education and training, higher education, non-formal learning organizations, and local authorities). Its goal is to gain a systematic understanding of the diffusion process of ESD in the different areas of the German educational system. For the analysis of the 66 expert interviews, a qualitative content analysis was used. The overarching result of the study is that there is no single transformation path of ESD diffusion that fits all educational areas. Instead, characteristics of ESD as well as prevailing structural conditions, systemic goals, and the understanding of education within the respective educational area have an impact on the diffusion of ESD. The diffusion process of ESD evolves within this circular interplay of innovation and innovation system. A deeper understanding of it therefore has great potential for practitioners’ (self-) reflections and for further research projects

Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany

Singer-Brodowski M, von Seggern J, Duveneck A, Etzkorn N. Moving (Reflexively within) Structures. The Governance of Education for Sustainable Development in Germany. Sustainability. 2020;12(7): 2778.The educational governance discourse aims at capturing how different actors, participating in a specific political process, coordinate their actions while working together within multi-actor policy networks. In Germany, such multi-actor policy networks have set up ambitious political goals on the implementation of education for sustainable development (ESD) that has resulted in the National Action Plan. The current domestic slogan “From Project to Structure” reveals the overall aim of scaling ESD. In this article, a governance perspective is used to examine how the actors involved in ESD in Germany coordinate their actions with each other. Six focus group discussions for different educational areas were conducted and analyzed with a structuring content analysis in MAXQDA. Additionally, an in-depth case comparison of the actors from different sectors (administration, politics, academia, civil society, and educational practice) was carried out. The results show sector-specific boundary work—the way in which actors construe, maintain, or even bridge boundaries when coordinating their actions in scaling ESD. Actors from the various sectors positioned themselves in patterns of more structure-immanent or more structure-transcending positionings. The conclusion shows that reflection and relational agency is pivotal for cooperation within multi-stakeholder governance networks and for moving strategically within structures

Nationales Monitoring von BNE – Stand und Prozess der Verbreitung von BNE in Deutschland

Singer-Browdowski M, Etzkorn N, Brock A, Grapentin-Rimek T, von Seggern J. Nationales Monitoring von BNE – Stand und Prozess der Verbreitung von BNE in Deutschland. In: Clemens I, Hornberg S, Rieckmann M, eds. Bildung und Erziehung im Kontext globaler Transformationen. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich; 2019: 95-109