Designing Climate Resilience: A Youth Participatory Action Research Project

Royal Roads' Robin Cox received an SSHRC Insight Grant in 2020 for a youth participatory action research project on Vancouver Island and in Puerto Rico using design thinking for climate resilience.

It is increasingly urgent that individuals and communities mobilize as change makers to address escalating climate- and disaster-related risks and impacts. This research engages youth, teachers, and their communities on Vancouver Island and in Puerto Rico in community-based, participatory and decolonized design thinking as a tool for enhancing resilience and shifting from awareness to action.

The Challenge. Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time and a clear signal that humans are living in ways that not only exceed the capacity of the earth to sustain, but that are also driving climatic and geophysical changes that threaten our very future. Climate risks have implications for all sectors of society, impacting livelihoods, food security, health, and natural and built assets in ways that exacerbate existing vulnerabilities (Christoplos, 2009). The complexity of climate change and the intersecting systems that are involved in addressing climate change can easily overwhelm and paralyze people, resulting in increased levels of anxiety, grief, and despair (Burke, Sanson, & van Hoorn, 2018; van Susteren, 2018). Even when young people are well-informed about climate change, this does not necessarily translate into youth feeling they can do much about climate change (Markowitz, 2012). Mobilizing youth from concern to action has the potential to increase their own resilience (Masten & Osofsky 2010a, b) as well as enhancing their capacity to contribute as citizens and leaders (Narksompong & Limjirakan, 2015).

The Goal. This program of research is guided by the principles of community-participatory action research (CBPR; Wallerstein & Duran, 2017) and the ResilienceByDesign Lab’s (RbD) commitment to engaging and increasing the empowerment of youth as change makers. The multi-case participatory research design will engage youth in both sites in a modification of the RbD’s Youth Resilience Innovation process, to learn and lead design thinking processes within their communities with a focus on sparking climate action, resilience, and disaster risk reduction. The work The research is guided by the research questions: 1) How can a participatory, community-based and decolonized design thinking approach inform and enhance youth engagement with climate change and climate action?; 2) How does participating in such a process impact key dimensions of youth resilience and engagement (e.g., self-efficacy, optimism, social trust)?; 3) What impacts might youth-community co-designed and co-implemented adaptation strategies contribute to resilience outcomes at the community level?; and 4) How can the findings from this study leverage and inform existing school curricula to provide authentic learning experiences and opportunities related to climate change?

Outcomes. The project’s focus on youth- and community-engagement in climate action aligns with the urgent need to live within our ecosystems’ capacities for long-term human habitation of the earth, and we anticipate the to be of widespread interest and use to governmental and non-governmental organizations, educators, parents, and youth themselves. The project’s emphasis on co-learning (youth and adults), and shared responsibility for amplifying youth voice will identify and incorporate pathways to strengthen two-way listening between youth and decision-makers. Such action is strategic as scholars have argued that being listened to can strengthen people’s power and resolve for action, especially for those whose perspectives have been historically ignored (Dobson, 2014; Pearce, 2012). Through the course of the research in both countries, youth will develop a range of outputs (e.g., youth generated videos, blogs, stories; process manual; peer-reviewed publications). Youth and adult allies will have opportunities to validate their own knowledge, capacities and power so that they can confidently act with agency (self-efficacy) to improve the resilience of their peers and their communities and contribute to broader engagement in climate action. Agency starts to build when people feel that their concerns and opinions matter (Shahrokh & Wheeler, 2014; VeneKlasen & Miller, 2007). We anticipate youth’s participation contributing to their self-efficacy and creative confidence, a key to their capacity to process and act on climate change information (Masten & Osofsky 2010); improved mental and physical health (Macdonald et al., 2013); and to improved community decision-making and climate capacities and actions.

Potential contributions to knowledge. Wherever possible the roll-out of knowledge products will be led by participating youth, as opportunities to leverage local, national, and international opportunities to generate dialogue among youth, K-12 teachers, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary actors, and government departments. Activities will include co-authoring and co-presenting results in Spanish and English; attending and hosting conferences/symposiums/workshops (virtual or in-person when possible); linking with, mobilizing, and leveraging other practice, policy, or research networks (e.g., Adaptation Learning Network and ResilienceByDesign websites) and facilitating other web-based network building opportunities. Knowledge mobilization will also be accomplished by partnering with key stakeholders such as the Instituto de Desarrollo de la Juventud (IDJ; Youth Development Institute, in Puerto Rico, an organization dedicated to developing, promoting and evaluating policies directed at enhancing youth welfare. The project will also explore the potential for project youth to present the project and provide training to youth in other communities (BC and PR) through face-to-face interactions, social media, and more traditional outlets such as radio and television. The UPRM and RRU have facilities for students to create content that can be widely disseminated (Impacto Juventud is already developing and publishing on their social media platforms.

We also anticipate this contributing to the literature on: 1) youth engagement theories with a particular focus on verifying factors associated with increased youth engagement, empowerment, and citizenship; 2) educational theories related to transformative educational practices, authentic learning, activity theory; 3) design thinking and social innovation with particular focus on proof of concept as it relates to how these approaches can influence psychological and emotional factors related to youth and community engagement and empowerment in climate action; 4) participatory research methodologies, methods, and theories; and 5) the limited literature on climate adaptation, adaptation innovations and social impacts of adaptation initiatives (e.g., resilience).

Other benefits. We anticipate widespread interest in the findings and outputs of this study. The cross-case analysis will produce knowledge that is relevant to multiple cultural and geographic contexts; policy and action recommendations will be of interest to governments and nongovernmental organizations grappling with how to mobilize civic engagement in climate actions; educators, youth-workers, and youth themselves will be interested in the actionable and evidence-informed strategies outlined in the manual, and will be able to use the youth-generated videos and blogs and stories as examples to motivate other youth.

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Burke, S. E. L., Sanson, A. V., & van Hoorn, J. (2018). The psychological effects of climate change on children. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(5), 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0896-9

Christoplos, I., Anderson, S., Arnold, M., Galaz, V., Hedger, M., Klein, R. J., & Le Goulven, K. L. (2009). The human dimensions of climate adaptation: The importance of local and institutional issues. Commission on Climate Change and Development. Stockholm: Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/9673

Dobson, A. (2014). Listening for democracy: Recognition, representation, reconciliation. Oxford University Press. http://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199682447.001.0001

MacDonald, J. P., Ford, J. D., Willox, A. C., & Ross, N. A. (2013). A review of protective factors and causal mechanisms that enhance the mental health of Indigenous Circumpolar youth. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 72(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.21775

Markowitz, E. (2012). Is climate change an ethical issue? Examining young adults’ beliefs about climate and morality. Climatic Change, 114(3), 479–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0422-8

Masten, A. S., & Osofsky, J. D. (2010). Disasters and their impact on child development: Introduction to the special section. Child Development, 81(4), 1029–1039. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01452.x

Narksompong, J., & Limjirakan, S. (2015). Youth participation in climate change for sustainable engagement. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 24(2), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12121

Pearce, J. (2012). Power and the activist. Development, 55(2), 198-202. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2012.15

Shahrokh, T., & Wheeler, J. (2014) Agency and citizenship in a context of gender-based violence. IDS Evidence Report, 73. Institute of Development Studies. https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/agency-and-citizenship-in-a-context-of-gender-based-violence/