Climate Change and development - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 286

What does it mean for development actors themselves to engage in processes
to build reflexivity about their own values and positionality relative to the
structures, relations and development pathways that drive vulnerability? It may
mean creating internal processes and discussion spaces to highlight different
perceptions and interests, or to draw attention to the very lack of awareness
and understanding of the vulnerability context within organizations. It may
also require a reorientation of the way that development actors, including
bilateral and multilateral agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
and governments, carry out their work. By definition, these actors usually work
in the practical sphere. However, their actions can and often do drive changes
(deliberately or unintentionally) in the political sphere. An increased awareness
of the relationships among changes in the practical, political and personal spheres
is essential to transformations towards more sustainable development pathways.
Transformations in the personal sphere can serve as a catalyst for new
approaches to adaptation in the political and practical spheres, but they are
nonetheless challenging. Tearfund, a UK relief and development agency, reflects
on the difficulties and challenges of their own internal transformation process:
Embarking on this transformative journey through a process of co-creation
generated more ownership of the process amongst staff, but it also proved
time-consuming and exhausting and created uncertainty that needed to be
managed. While some members of staff were very committed to the cause
from the beginning, others were unsure and needed more time to engage
with the issues. Continuously questioning the status quo and engaging in
system thinking is a complex and uncomfortable challenge that bears the
temptation to fall back into old patterns of thinking and working.
(Tearfund 2014)
Conclusions: a new role for development
The complexity and urgency of climate change means that rather than
sidestepping difficult issues, it is time to face them head on. Adaptation involves
more than simply accommodating the impacts of climate change: it is also about
confronting the societal context in which these changes are occurring. This means
moving beyond impacts-oriented adaptation to tackle the underlying sources
of vulnerability that are often determined by social, economic and political
relations. Critically, it involves challenging the processes and conditions that
are creating vulnerability and risk - including economic development models
that undermine the cultural and material basis for community well-being and
perpetuate reliance on fossil-fuel energy sources (Pelling 2011; Redclift 2012).
It also necessitates challenging the ways of 'doing development'.
The chapters in this topic offer insights on the types of social science
analyses needed to better understand the relationship between adaptation and
development. They also provide a range of frameworks and analytical tools that