Social Psychology of Climate Conflicts

Climate change and climate shocks affect us at the individual, social, and cultural levels posing serious threats to communities and societal peacekeeping. This reality has generated numerous place-based resistance movements and intractable, intergroup stakeholder conflicts that stall progress toward sustainability, climate adaptation, and mitigation. These impediments exacerbate the climate crisis and its psycho-social effects we collectively face. Globally, some relevant examples involve climate-related conflicts in the global North and south including various forms of local opposition to climate migrants, wind energy turbines, hydropower plants, and large-scale solar power installations. This workshop will analyze such environmental and climate change-related conflicts to understand the realistic and symbolic threats involved. We will also discuss various models and case studies of collaboration and conflict management and practice applying them to global climate change and sustainability conflicts. Presenters will bring local, regional, and international cases from the global North (Canada, Norway) and South (Pakistan, Sahel). We will also discuss the existing and emerging caveats of conflict mediation. We will extend conversations about the constructs that might better fit our contemporary global and local needs for collaboration, sustainability, and care for individuals’ well-being (i.e., managing eco-anxiety).

Skills/ competencies & learning outcomes:

Analyze conflicts through different cultural and contextual lenses (developing cultural sensitivity and sensibilities)

Identify suitable conflict models that use integrative potential to facilitate win-win solutions

Trust-building through cooperation and fostering mutual recognition and tolerance

Implementing ethically informed, inclusive, and principled negotiations Practical know-how in negotiation, mediation, and collaborative processes

Fostering mutual recognition and tolerance through intersection approaches and frameworks

Develop sound judgment in situation assessment (scale, stakeholders, challenges, opportunities, and potential results)

Using reflexivity on obligations, values, and standards in conflict management approaches

Awareness of one’s role and how one’s social identity, ideology, and values impact one’s feelings, decisions, and actions.

Thinking strategically about when, where, and how to engage and when to disengage safely

This workshop would be suitable for persons interested in climate and environmental psychology, especially those who use cultural, community, and social psychological lenses for their research and teaching. This workshop would greatly benefit anyone interested in working with marginalized and climate-impacted communities, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural competencies.

Location: University of Limerick Castletroy Limerick V94 T9PX Limerick Ireland

Admission costs 60-100 euros.