Challenges of performing socio-environmental interdisciplinary research: the experience of the Brazilian Research Network on Climate Change (Rede CLIMA)

Authors

  • Gabriela Litre Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CDS), Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
  • Marcel Bursztyn Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CDS), Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
  • Saulo Rodrigues Filho Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CDS), Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
  • Patricia Mesquita Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CDS), Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v51i0.60365

Keywords:

climate change, interdisciplinarity, adaptation, misperceptions

Abstract

How can you move a team of scholars of the most varied academic backgrounds out of their multidisciplinary comfort zone and towards genuine interdisciplinarity (integration and collaboration) in the climate change research field? This was the challenge that a project faced concerning the climate change perceptions of smallholder farmers from four Brazilian biomes (Amazonia, Cerrado, Pantanal, and Semiarid region), coordinated by the Brazilian Research Network on Climate Change (Rede CLIMA). Interdisciplinary clashes among scientists went well beyond semantics and reached the core of concepts such as perception, resilience, vulnerability, adaptive capacity and even climate change. Challenges included thinking collectively about a problem with so much ambiguous and contradictory knowledge, conflicting interests, and diverging epistemologies. This case study - which focused on the internal debate about climatic change apparent “misperceptions” by family farmers - confirmed that there is no blueprint for interdisciplinary climate change research projects, as well as the clear need for project-specific and context-sensitive research strategies. Critical factors going into successful interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary integration included early involvement of different groups (such as researchers, decision-makers, and local actors and stakeholders) as essential for finding common objectives and priorities. The experience of Rede CLIMA confirmed that the barriers to successful climate change adaptation (such as the mutual incomprehension or distrust between scientists themselves, and between scientist and end-users) could be overcome by creating collaborative enterprises. The co-creation of science, which included switching roles between knowledge producers and end-users, facilitated horizontal work and the identification of climate-related risks among family farmers.

 

 

Author Biography

Gabriela Litre, Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CDS), Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Gabriela Litre holds a B.A. in Social Communication and Journalism (1996) from the Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a M.Sc. in Globalisation and Latin American Studies from the University of London - Institute of Latin American Studies (2004). She studied Sociology at the University of Buenos Aires (2001). She also holds a specialization in Journalism, Freedom of Expression, and Racism in the Media (1998), from the University of Florida, U.S.A., a degree in international relations and regional economic integration from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, a PhD in Environmental Management and Public Policy for Sustainable Development (Center for Sustainable Development, University of Brasilia, 2010) and a PhD in Geography and Territorial Urban Planning (IHEAL, Université Paris 3, Sorbonne-Nouvelle, 2010). She specialized in the positive, win/win management and intervention in socio environmental conflicts with courses in Chile, administered b the Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano in Chile (FFLA, 2006). Since 2011, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Sustainable Development at the University of Brasília. 

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Published

2019-08-31

How to Cite

Litre, G., Bursztyn, M., Rodrigues Filho, S., & Mesquita, P. (2019). Challenges of performing socio-environmental interdisciplinary research: the experience of the Brazilian Research Network on Climate Change (Rede CLIMA). Desenvolvimento E Meio Ambiente, 51. https://doi.org/10.5380/dma.v51i0.60365

Issue

Vol. 51 (2019): Technique and Environment

Section

Articles

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