About

Re-imagining knowledge mobilization in a carbon-constrained world: A design research on transnational and transdisciplinary collaborations for Adaptation Futures

Many in the fields of climate change and international development have long been aware of the paradox of our aeromobility: Major sustainability challenges, such as climate change, are global; thus, addressing them requires active transnational and cross-sectoral approaches to knowledge sharing for collective action. At the same time, the dominant practice of frequent air travel to attend climate summits and international meetings is responsible for a significant share of global carbon emissions. The question, then, is how to scale up global action while simultaneously reducing the environmental impacts of such operations.

The goal of this project is to explore how the climate, sustainability, and environment (CSE) community can pursue impactful, equitable, and just knowledge mobilization practices whilst minimizing their environmental impact. Through a design-based research methodology, this research aims to develop low carbon- and travel-intensive alternatives that are just and sustainable. This work, in partnership with Ouranos, will produce actionable knowledge for sustainable conferencing and apply it at the 2023 Adaptation Futures conference, which is a flagship climate change adaptation conference and is expected to host thousands of state and non-state actors worldwide to develop adaptation policies and solutions. It will have important implications for future conferencing and knowledge mobilization practices. It will also contribute to the current debates on how low carbon- and travel-intensive conferencing might affect global partnerships for climate action––for better, and for worse, whether those effects will be equitably distributed, and how particular changes of knowledge mobilization will reshape its contributions.