Discussions on climate and climate change are predominantly based on only one form of knowledge: the natural sciences of European origin. According to these, climate is defined as the average weather conditions that characterize a given geographic location. At the same time, there are various forms of climate knowledge. For example, there are conceptions of climate in which the duration of sunshine, the amount of rainfall and wind speed are not only measurable values, but sun, rain and wind are actors who interact with humans. Or conceptions in which divine powers guarantee humans favorable climatic conditions if they behave properly or punish them with climatic disorders otherwise. To ignore them is to reproduce the (neo)colonial hierarchy of global knowledge production. This panel aims to provide a space for encounter and dialogue between different forms of knowledge about climate. To this end, we bring together people from different regions and communities and distinct academic disciplines and fields of action. Instead of accumulating knowledge about climate by stringing together papers, we want to learn about different forms of knowledge (narratives, songs, etc.) and relate them to each other and to the experiences of all participants of this panel.
Outline of the Panel
- 14:00 – 15:30
Welcome/Introduction to the panel
Introduction to ‘plurality of knowledge’
Presentations of different forms of climate knowledge
- 16:00 – 17:30
- 16:00 – 17:30
Open discussion of three questions
– What is climate?
– How do humans and their activities affect climate and how does climate affect human lives?
– How and where do the different forms of climate knowledge meet, and what are the effects of these encounters?
Closing the Panel
Discussing the question: What does plurality of knowledge about climate mean? And what implications does this have for climate change discourse?