Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Developing a minifesta for effective academic-activist collaboration in the context of the climate emergency
AU - McLaren, Duncan P.
AU - Anderson, Christine
AU - Barry, John
AU - Castán Broto, Vanesa
AU - de Cheveigné, Suzanne
AU - Chilvers, Jason
AU - Crowther, Alison
AU - Hupé, Jean-Michel
AU - Kalaugher, Liz
AU - Labussiere, Olivier
AU - Rothery, Tina L.
AU - Nadai, Alain
AU - Ortar, Nathalie
AU - Raine, Jordan
AU - Smith, Graham
AU - Wallenborn, Grégoire
AU - Walker, Gordon
PY - 2024/6/12
Y1 - 2024/6/12
N2 - Justice-oriented climate activism is proliferating. Many scholars aspire to deliver research that supports activism. However, measures of impact for research evaluation and funding purposes place little weight on the use of research by activists. Here we consider how academics and academia might effectively support and enable climate activism. We report outcomes from a series of online deliberative workshops involving both activists and academics from several European countries. The workshops were facilitated to create space for discussion, sharing of experiences and the development of proposals for the future. The outcomes take the form of a set of principles (a “minifesta”) for academic-activist engagement generated by the group. In discussing the process and outputs, we argue that a focus on inclusion can support politically transformative change of the scale and urgency required. We suggest that this also demands a shift in attitudes toward the role of activism and activists in collaborative processes. We further discuss the inevitable incompleteness of this process, arguing that incompleteness is, itself, a feature of inclusive engagement. We conclude that scholars working on climate issues in any discipline could benefit from increasing mutually supportive collaboration with activists; and that such collaboration and inclusion could help liberate democracy from authoritarian tendencies and market influences. Collaborative engagements generate legitimate, rich, and impactful outcomes even with the limitations posed by COVID19. We, therefore, commend both the model of engagement and the principles it generated for our colleagues and peers.
AB - Justice-oriented climate activism is proliferating. Many scholars aspire to deliver research that supports activism. However, measures of impact for research evaluation and funding purposes place little weight on the use of research by activists. Here we consider how academics and academia might effectively support and enable climate activism. We report outcomes from a series of online deliberative workshops involving both activists and academics from several European countries. The workshops were facilitated to create space for discussion, sharing of experiences and the development of proposals for the future. The outcomes take the form of a set of principles (a “minifesta”) for academic-activist engagement generated by the group. In discussing the process and outputs, we argue that a focus on inclusion can support politically transformative change of the scale and urgency required. We suggest that this also demands a shift in attitudes toward the role of activism and activists in collaborative processes. We further discuss the inevitable incompleteness of this process, arguing that incompleteness is, itself, a feature of inclusive engagement. We conclude that scholars working on climate issues in any discipline could benefit from increasing mutually supportive collaboration with activists; and that such collaboration and inclusion could help liberate democracy from authoritarian tendencies and market influences. Collaborative engagements generate legitimate, rich, and impactful outcomes even with the limitations posed by COVID19. We, therefore, commend both the model of engagement and the principles it generated for our colleagues and peers.
KW - minifesta
KW - academic-activist collaboration
KW - climate activism
KW - democracy
KW - academic responsibilities
KW - deliberative engagement
KW - climate justice
U2 - 10.3389/feduc.2024.1384614
DO - 10.3389/feduc.2024.1384614
M3 - Journal article
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Education
JF - Frontiers in Education
SN - 2504-284X
M1 - 1384614
ER -