The CuHeMo project successfully conducted a Methods Workshop today, focusing on innovative ways to bridge qualitative and participatory research with natural sciences and climate data analysis. This workshop brought together a transdisciplinary group of researchers and experts to explore interdisciplinary and inclusive methodologies for addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change, (im)mobilities and development.
Key Themes and Discussions
A central focus of the workshop was how to foster meaningful comparisons across different cultural and environmental contexts. Drawing from Jennifer Robinson’s approach (2016) of comparative research practice, participants explored how mobile cultural practices and climate change risks are both locally emergent and, at times, shared across regions. Discussions considered:
Lines of comparison: Identifying levels of analysis to address not only climate change but also broader socio-economic and historical developments, such as new enclosures or patterns of colonization.
Methodological approaches: Assessing tools that enable communities to be brought into dialogue through their results while incorporating different stakeholder insights, climate modeling, and experiential knowledge on the ground.
The participants further discussed the innovative Storyline Method, presented by the project partner Deltares, which links scenario-based narratives to physical climate models. This method was highlighted as a innovative tool for understanding how hazards amplify or cascade in specific contexts and how we could better make sense of future climate scenarios. Participants also reflected on the challenges of participatory as well as immersive fieldwork and the complexities of conducting research in linguistically and culturally diverse settings. Drawing from past experiences of all research partners we discussed how to deal with language barriers and how to built trustful relations with the research participants.
Integrating Mobility and Trajectories and Moving Forward
The workshop also explored mobile methods and trajectories research, informed by frameworks from Marcus 1995, Büscher and Urry (2009), as well as Schapendonk and Steel (2014). These ‘follow the trajectory‘ approaches will help our project to grasp the dynamic nature of mobility at the intersection of environmental change, cultural practices and other developments that influence the lifeworlds of many ethnic minorities. Participants further stressed the need for sensitivity in terminology and acknowledgment of how communities prefer to identify themselves.
The workshop concluded with reflections on the value of bringing diverse communities into dialogue through research results accross geographical boundaries, blending participatory approaches with scientific methodologies and indigenous epistemologies and expertise. By integrating qualitative insights, such as indigenous knowledge and cultural practices, with climate data, the CuHeMo project aims to generate more integrative and impactful research outcomes. This method workshop reaffirmed our commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, ensuring that research not only advances scientific understanding but also enables ownership and empowerment to inform climate adaptation.
