Abstract
Governments are struggling to limit global temperatures below the 2°C Paris target with existing climate change policy approaches. This is because conventional climate policies have been predominantly (inter)nationally top-down, which limits citizen agency in driving policy change and influencing citizen behavior. Here we propose elevating Citizen Social Science (CSS) to a new level across governments as an advanced collaborative approach of accelerating climate action and policies that moves beyond conventional citizen science and participatory approaches. Moving beyond the traditional science-policy model of the democratization of science in enabling more inclusive climate policy change, we present examples of how CSS can potentially transform citizen behavior and enable citizens to become key agents in driving climate policy change. We also discuss the barriers that could impede the implementation of CSS and offer solutions to these. In doing this, we articulate the implications of increased citizen action through CSS in moving forward the broader normative and political program of transdisciplinary and co-productive climate change research and policy.
Highlights
This paper examines why current forms of climate policy are not working and offers some suggestions as to how to further increase citizen engagement in science and policy decisions at different scales of governance that move beyond tokenistic forms of citizen participation
Given the limitations in citizen science translating to effective climate action (Groulx et al, 2017), we argue that increased public engagement in the “politics of science” (Jasanoff, 2003) and what we call the “politics of policy” can help protect against public misinformation on climate change, prevent particular forms of epistemic expertise dominating climate science-policy decisions, producing more transparently public-engaged climate politics and policy
This all points to a need for increased citizen engagement to act as a further check and balance to formal climate policy decisions that are made in particular spaces dominated by epistemic actors like the state, scientists or even the market
Summary
This paper examines why current forms of climate policy are not working and offers some suggestions as to how to further increase citizen engagement in science and policy decisions at different scales of governance that move beyond tokenistic forms of citizen participation. National and international climate politics continues to play a dominant role in the polycentric governance systems and research has only just begun to distinguish between different types of climate governance, rather than assessing their effectiveness in complementing or replacing top-down, government dominated policy-making (Jordan et al, 2015) This all points to a need for increased citizen engagement to act as a further check and balance to formal climate policy decisions that are made in particular spaces dominated by epistemic actors like the state, scientists or even the market (e.g., fossil fuel companies). Discussions about fears and hopes for the future can provide a “lens” through which to discuss climate change research and to explore different narratives and pathways for public engagement that move beyond current techno-managerial and gender imbalanced sciencepolicy approaches
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
