Exploring the affective dimension in citizen science to support urban climate adaptation: a conceptual framework

Abstract

Despite the urgent need to take action on climate adaptation, public engagement remains relatively low. This low engagement poses significant challenges to the effective adaptation process, highlighting the need for innovative approaches in governance. In this paper, we explore the importance of the affective dimension in enhancing citizen engagement in climate adaptation. Drawing from a review of recent literature, we identify the primary challenges of fostering citizen engagement by integrating research on climate adaptation with the exploration of the affective dimension and the conceptualization of affective practices. We aim to identify specific “affective facilitators’’ that have the potential to enhance citizen engagement and drive actionable outcomes. We advocate for the use of Citizen Science as a means to support citizen engagement, due to its potential to harness the identified facilitators. We illustrate the practical application of our conceptual framework with the Citizen Sensing Project.