Mathieu Lang

The competencies demonstrated by farmers while adapting to climate change

World population growth, overconsumption of resources, competition among countries and climate change are putting significant pressure on agriculture. In Canada, changes in precipitation, the appearance of new pests and poor soil quality are threatening the prosperity of small farmers. What human competencies could facilitate citizens’ adaptation to climate change? The competencies displayed by six Canadian farmers were observed as they tried to improve the quality of their soil in order to increase its climate resilience. The farmers in the case study demonstrated a wide array of skills while adapting to climate change. Used to adjusting their farming practices to bad weather, the participants predicted that their already declining soil was very vulnerable to extreme events. They implemented some adaptations: planting forage radish and practicing more crop rotations. During the adaptation process, the farmers showed in-depth local and agricultural knowledge, critical thinking (which they used to assess the solutions), futures thinking and hindsight, identification and control of the variables affecting the crops, openness to novelty, collaboration, optimism and self-efficacy. The research, which results in the identification of competencies conducive to adaptation, leads to the recommendation of a few educational strategies to strengthen adaptive competencies when supporting citizens in a climate change adaptation process.

Human competences that facilitate adaptation to climate change: a research in progress

Purpose – For communities threatened by current or impending climate change, adaptation is becoming a necessity. Although little research has been done on human competences so far, this research shows that some appear to facilitate the adaptation process. The purpose of this multiple‐case study is to identify adaptive competences demonstrated by two groups of Canadian citizens: municipal employees in a coastal community and farmers.Design/methodology/approach – As part of workshops based on a problem solving process, the two groups analyzed the impacts of climate change in their field of work and geographical area, chose a problem related to these impacts, suggested and then implemented adaptation measures. The municipal employees worked on sea level rise, whereas the farmers focused on poor soil quality, which makes it vulnerable to bad weather.Findings – By thematically analyzing the verbatim transcripts of the workshops and by building narratives, the authors were able to identify similar adaptive comp...

Competencies Demonstrated by Municipal Employees During Adaptation to Climate Change: A Pilot Study

Since coastal communities are already subjected to the impacts of climate change, adaptation has become a necessity. This article presents competencies demonstrated by Canadian municipal employees during an adaptation process to sea level rise. To adapt, the participants demonstrated the following competencies: problem solving (highlighting components of the problem and identifying constraints), futures thinking, risk prediction, vulnerability analysis, local knowledge, planning, and communication. However, some competencies that could be potentially useful in adaptation were used less frequently by participants: developing solutions, knowledge of adaptation, math skills, hope, and self-efficacy.

Leaders of Sustainable Development Projects: Resources Used and Lessons Learned in a Context of Environmental Education?

In our day, leaders involved in ingenious sustainable development projects plan spaces and implement practices that are beneficial to the environment. These initiatives represent a fertile source of information on the competences linked to environmental design that we should nurture in our students. In view of improving our understanding of the competences that should be developed in environmental education (EE), this study sought to identify the competences used by leaders who participated in five sustainable development projects (in sustainable urban planning and forestry). The analysis of documents and data from individual interviews revealed that the main competences (cognitive, social and affective) used by the leaders interviewed, depended on creative, complex, flexible, longitudinal, adapted, patient, collaborative, humanistic and environmental planning. Finally, this study, of which we present the effects on EE, shows that leaders use competences which are associated with creative individuals.