NOTE to Educators

Climate Science and Colonialism

A Course / Resources for Educators

Dear Educators, Welcome to this Project.

The Climate Science and Colonialism Education Project is an initiative of the My Climate Risk Education Working Group. It is intended to help you to help your students by providing tools and resources for them to think critically and ethically about major existential problems and sweeping changes that will impact students throughout their lives.

From preparation for new kinds of jobs to recognizing the difference between real solutions and false solutions, from acting for just transitions to working with their communities to make adaptation just and relevant, a new kind of thinking, conceptualizing and acting is called for. We hope that this Project will be of use for high school curricula as well as undergraduate and introductory graduate-level college courses.

Why this initiative?

Why this initiative?

We currently face a multitude of existential threats, including climate change, which exacerbates all other crises, from mass extinction of species to poverty, hunger, inequality and conflict. For students to understand why the world looks the way it does in the 21st Century, it is, of course, imperative to understand how colonialism has shaped our perceptions and response to the climate crisis.

In addition, it is crucial also to explore how climate science itself, from its inception to current-day practices, is inextricably tied to its colonialist origins. The entanglement of climate science with colonialism is the focus of this Project. This teaching and learning resource provides students with a broad historical perspective on the origins of ideas and key concepts that underpin the conceptual structures and practices of science in general and climate science in particular.

It illustrates how colonialist practices that are part of our default thinking can be recognized and provides opportunities for students to consider what alternatives might take their place. It suggests an orientation toward the local, wherever ‘local’ might be, in order to make climate knowledge meaningful, actionable and relevant to students everywhere. It is our hope that this approach, along with the twin lenses of climate science and colonialism, will not only provide students with transferrable skills to support critical and creative thinking across the curriculum, but will enable them to liberate their imaginations and inspire actions toward the realization of a better world.

Content, Organization, and Cross-Cutting Themes

1. Science and Colonialism through History

Sets out the wider landscape and includes a talk on world historical factors that shaped climate science.

2. Transnational Scale

Discussion of the work of the IPCC, geo-political dimensions, and a case study on Ocean Science Diplomacy.

3. Local Scale

Illustrates the damage of ‘expert led’ interventions with case studies from South Asia and Alaska.

4. Decolonizing Science

A holistic and decolonial epistemological opening up of science from a local perspective.

Further Engagement

This project is based on a 2-part webinar series on climate science and colonialism. Alongside videos of the original series, we have included key themes, introductory questions for students, ideas for student debates, and more. We strongly recommend that educators add their own resources that reflect issues and dilemmas most relevant locally.