Adaptation is Here: Launching the TrAd (Transformative Adaptation) Book with Rupert Read and Morgan Philips
Nov 27, 2024
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Rupert Read, a professor and co-founder of the Climate Majority Project, joins educator Morgan Phillips, known for her work with Global Action Plan, to discuss their newly launched book, "Transformative Adaptation." They dive into the urgent need for systemic change post-COP29, emphasizing innovative climate adaptation strategies. The duo contrasts superficial methods with sustainable practices that foster community resilience. Additionally, they advocate for educational reforms that promote collaboration and connectivity in tackling climate challenges.
Transformative adaptation emphasizes proactive community strategies that integrate creativity for sustainable responses to climate crises.
Balancing decarbonization with robust climate adaptation initiatives is essential for the resilience of communities against environmental changes.
Engaging individuals in localized climate solutions enhances community resilience through collaboration, education, and the sharing of local knowledge.
Deep dives
The Concept of Transformative Adaptation
Transformative adaptation is proposed as a crucial response to the pressing challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation. It emphasizes the need for communities and individuals to embrace comprehensive strategies that not only mitigate the impacts of climate crises but also foster societal transformation. The focus shifts from defensive measures, like building flood defenses, to proactive approaches that integrate creativity and deeper systemic change, allowing communities to adapt sustainably. This involves fostering a society driven by empathy, collaboration, and resilience, setting the groundwork for a thriving future.
Climate Action Beyond Decarbonization
While decarbonization is widely discussed as essential for climate action, it is increasingly recognized that it is insufficient on its own. Transformative adaptation argues for a dual approach that balances carbon reduction with robust strategies to deal with the ongoing climate impacts. Governments need to prioritize adaptation initiatives alongside decarbonization efforts, ensuring communities are prepared for unpredictable environmental changes. This comprehensive focus allows for a smoother transition to a resilient society that can navigate the complexities arising from climate chaos.
Rethinking Societal Structures
The need for a sixth mission in climate policy—specifically tackling climate adaptation—is emphasized to ensure the stability of existing climate actions. The current government proposes five missions, but without one focused on adaptation, other initiatives may fall prey to climate impacts. Transformative adaptation encourages individuals to engage with their local communities to enact change and develop resilience strategies. This participatory approach harnesses local knowledge and collective efforts, promoting empowerment and equitable climate solutions.
The Power of Community Engagement
Community resilience is identified as a fundamental aspect of effective transformative adaptation. Localized engagement allows communities to address specific vulnerabilities while enhancing social cohesion and mutual support among inhabitants. Initiatives within communities facilitate meaningful dialogues, decision-making, and actions that directly address the climate crisis at their doorstep. By building strong connections and networks, communities can foster resilience and improve their adaptive capacity to climate impacts.
Educational Transformation as a Key Tool
Education plays a pivotal role in shaping how individuals and communities respond to climate change through transformative adaptation. Programs geared towards understanding adaptation empower young people to think critically about their roles and responsibilities in tackling climate challenges. By cultivating an awareness of interdependence and cooperation, educational approaches can help dispel individualistic attitudes and build community solidarity. Ultimately, this shift in mindset is crucial for fostering a generation capable of embarking on the collaborative journey toward a more sustainable and resilient future.
We're teetering on the brink of ecosystem and cultural collapse. How do we adapt and transform to the changing realities?
This week sees the launch of a new book: Transformative Adaptation: Another world is still just possible. The main editors and contributors are friend of the podcast, author, activist and co-founder of the Climate Majority Project, Rupert Read and - new to the podcast - Morgan Philips who is an educator, currently working for Global Action Plan, an environmental charity that mobilises people and organisations to take action on the systems that harm us and our planet. Full disclosure, I'm also a contributor - the book is published by Permanent Publications, the book-publishing arm of the Permaculture Magazine, and Maddy Harland, who edits the magazine and has published the book, brought together the five articles I wrote on Thrutopia: what it is, why we need it and how we get there, and fitted them into the mix.
The book launch has been timed to coincide with the end of COP29. At the time of recording, we have no idea how that will go, but if it's like all the previous 28 COPs it will be a triumph of obstructionism and irrelevancy masquerading as action. We might be surprised. We hope we are. But even if the nations who truly understand the magnitude of the meta-crisis somehow manage a worldwide diplomatic miracle and succeed in making it clear that we need total systemic change - we still need guidelines that help us see how this can happen: ideas of what to do at local and national levels, examples of the kinds of deliberate democracies that we'll need to bring everyone on board; templates of how the world can be if we actually bring all our creativity to bear on the single most important issue of our time.
This is exactly what this podcast is for - the whole of it - and this particular episode lays out the detail, from the concept of a 6th Mission for the UK government (and any other national government that wants to take it up) to examples of how we might shift our educational focus, to why building flood defences is really not enough, never going to be enough and how we could shift our communities to stop reacting and start…adapting.
None of this is easy. We do know this. But we can at least start the important conversations. This is what we're doing here - and we hope you find it inspiring enough to buy the book and read it, give it to your friends, family and colleagues - do whatever it takes to help your local community to find creative, flourishing, inspiring ways to meet the chaos of our world.