Description
Co-chaired Special Session "Marginalized Communities: The Missing Link in Climate and Social Transition Policy".Session Description:
Climate change is an unprecedented and urgent challenge of our time. It affects all regions around the world, their ecosystems, biodiversity, economy, and society. Climate change also has consequences for social justice because it is intertwined with patterns of inequality within regions. This challenge has resulted in ambitious policies. For instance, one of the European Union’s top priorities is to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. To achieve this goal, the concept of a “just transition for all” must be implemented, which is a feature of other Special Sessions (SS) at RSA 2023 (see SS13). As key factors for this concept are social inclusion and leaving no one behind, it involves not only the main actors such as governments, but also all other societal actors, which include marginalized communities. Studies show how transitions to climate neutrality primarily affect the lives and livelihoods of communities who already experience different levels of social vulnerability or marginalization (Newell et al., 2021; Schlosberg & Collins, 2014). These communities also tend to suffer more from the unintended consequences of climate transitions, such as the negative impacts of gentrification, to provide one example (Wachsmuth et al., 2016).
Yet visions of justice for marginalized communities are rarely recognized or even understood, as public discourses on climate transitions are disproportionally shaped by global organizations (e.g. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), supranational institutions (e.g. European Union), and national or regional governments (Fisher, 2015; ILO, 2019; Jenkins et al., 2020). Meanwhile, research suggests a place-based perspective can support inclusive and just policymaking for marginalized communities (Weck et al., 2022). Thus, a stronger focus on the contexts of specific marginalized groups is needed in order to guarantee just transition processes. In this session we would like to get a better understanding about the current status of marginalized communities in transition processes. Addressing this challenge raises a number of critical questions with major implications for transdisciplinary research, social and territorial cohesion, and public policy, including, but not limited to:
– How are marginalized communities conceptualized in transition research?
– How do marginalized communities manage social transitions? Are they included in this transition or not? If so, in what ways?
– What are the consequences of transitions towards climate neutrality for marginalized communities?
– How do transition processes engage vulnerable populations to avoid reinforcing existing marginalization dynamics or catalyzing new ones?
– How might transition research, regional planning, and public policy help empower marginalized communities?
– What are the ’best practices’ of inclusion of marginalized communities in climate change policies?
– What social, economic, and financial supports by regional and local governments are put in place to help marginalized communities in the transition process?
In this session, we hope to achieve a better understanding about the current status of marginalized communities in transitions by exploring some of these questions. Specifically, it will provide a reflective space in which to share theoretical and methodological approaches (such as walk along, art-based methods, mind mapping techniques) and empirical insights from research with marginalized communities, affected by transition processes. We invite papers across disciplines as well as from different lenses of justice (climate, energy, social, etc.).
| Period | Jun 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Ljubljana, SloveniaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |