"Communication on climate change research has long been dominated by top-down delivery of information aimed at informing on future climate scenarios and climate-related events. However, emphasis in this field is slowly shifting to more process-oriented approaches to communication, and the need to in
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tegrate learning is receiving increasing attention. This article argues that despite the challenges in shifting research communication on climate change into a more dialogical and learning-oriented model of practice, the realities faced by communities impacted on the ground make this shift imperative. Drawing on recent research, we consider how the context in which initiatives seek to engage in research communication will and should influence what is possible and what is desirable through these new approaches. We reflect on how efforts to understand context in one particular case served to shape a communication strategy from its outset, and note the opportunities and challenges revealed through this process. We then conclude by highlighting how climate change has reinforced arguments in favour of a focus of inclusive learning processes in communication for development." (Abstract)
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"This article reflects upon the opportunities and challenges of using Participatory Action Research (PAR) with community radio broadcasters in southern Ghana to investigate the impacts of climate change. Through a detailed outline of the methodological approach employed in this initiative as well as
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the findings that it produced, we consider how action research might serve to reveal the power relations, systemic drivers of vulnerability, and opportunities for sustainable action for social change related to climate impacts. As co-facilitators of this process based in a Northern research institution, we reflect upon the challenges, limitations and benefits of the approach used in order to identify potential areas for improvement and to understand how the dynamics of this partnership shaped collaboration. We also discuss how employing a systemic approach to action research helped to provide insights into the interactions between the physical and environmental impacts of climate change and related systems such as land tenure and agricultural production. A systemic approach to PAR, we argue, lends itself especially well to analysis of climate change adaptation and resilience, both of which are embedded within complex systems of institutions, assets, individuals and structures, and therefore not appropriate for narrow or one-dimensional analyses. Finally, we consider the specific contributions and challenges that engaging community radio as a research partner may offer to investigations on climate change." (Abstract)
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"In this article we reflect on three themes that highlight current trends in research communication for development and, in turn, shape this issue of the IDS Bulletin. We argue that shifts in the sociopolitical and theoretical context within which development research communication is being put into
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practice; the range and configurations of actors and roles being deployed; and technological advances or innovations available for research communication are affecting important and often contested changes. In introducing this collection of articles relevant to these themes, we conclude that further work is needed in mapping out this evolving landscape and better understanding the interlinkages, antecedents, and tensions between perspectives. Doing so, we argue, could contribute to a stronger praxis of development research communication." (Abstract)
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"Community radio is well recognized as a powerful vehicle for advocacy and social change in Africa, but its use in the field of climate change has remained very limited, and then largely for top-down transmission of information to communities. This article discusses lessons learned to date from the
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Climate Airwaves, an initiative aimed at developing new approaches for supporting community radio broadcasters to investigate, communicate, and engage in broader debates on the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities in Ghana. It also discusses in depth the central role that action research aimed at effecting social change plays in this particular initiative, and in climate justice initiatives more broadly. Lessons learned to date have highlighted the challenges of addressing complexity and uncertainty appropriately, the importance of framing climate change in the context of rights and responsibilities, the role of sustainable partnership models, and how this work can contribute to broadcasters‘ and communities‘ longer-term visions of change." (Abstract)
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