Abstract
The article presents results of a research project aiming to develop theoretical and empirical contributions on participatory approaches and methods of citizen science for risk mapping and adaptation to climate change. In the first part, the paper presents a review of the literature on key concepts and perspectives related to participatory citizen science, introducing the concept of the “right to research”. It highlights the mutual fertilization with participatory mapping methods to deal with disaster situations associated to climate change. In the second part, the paper describes and presents the results and conclusions of an action-research developed on the coastline between the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2017–2018. It involved affected communities as protagonists in mapping and managing risks of natural disasters caused by extreme climate events, by combining citizen science approaches and methods with Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) and social cartography. The article concludes by pointing out the contributions and limits of the “right to research” as a relevant Social Science approach to reframe citizen science from a democratic view.
Highlights
The current climate emergency of anthropogenic origin has exerted a broad spectrum of impacts affecting life and the environmental balance of the planet, with the consequent increase in disaster situations at different scales, largely associated with extreme weather events such as droughts and floods (Adger et al 2018; Anderson et al 2018; Cinner et al 2018)
The action research helped to demonstrate how the different types of maps produced in the study could be integrated, combining scientific knowledge with local knowledge and enhancing the identification of risks and adaptation strategies
Flood and landslide susceptibility maps originally used by the Geological Survey of Brazil (CPRM) and Technological Research Institute (IPT), on the 1:25,000 mapping scale, indicate areas on a smaller scale when compared to those produced through social cartography by local communities––usually at scales more detailed such as 1:1,000 to 1:10,000
Summary
The current climate emergency of anthropogenic origin has exerted a broad spectrum of impacts affecting life and the environmental balance of the planet, with the consequent increase in disaster situations at different scales, largely associated with extreme weather events such as droughts and floods (Adger et al 2018; Anderson et al 2018; Cinner et al 2018). The repercussions of current climate change are global and require articulated efforts on a planetary scale. Their causes and impacts are different and unequal, and they are especially felt by the most vulnerable regions and social groups (Cutter et al 2009). The strategies to face climate change have been based on two main axes: (1) the mitigation of its main causes, and (2) the adaptation and resilience of people as well as socioeconomic and ecological systems to its impacts (IPCC, 2014). Effective responses to the disaster risks related to climate change are still incipient at both government, private sector, and community levels. Policies and actions at different levels are expected to provide communities with greater capacity and safety to tackle some of the already irremediable effects of climate change. Participation and sensitisation of the most affected and vulnerable social groups, policy makers and private actors in these actions play a decisive role
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