Title: Making climate change public? A dramaturgically inspired case-study of learning through transition management

Authors: Katrien Van Poeck; Joke Vandenabeele; Gert Goeminne

Addresses: Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Poel 16, B-9000 Gent, Belgium ' Laboratory for Education and Society, University of Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 2 – bus 3761, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium ' Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Poel 16, B-9000 Gent, Belgium

Abstract: This article reports on a case study of a 'transition arena' established by an urban government in order to realise a climate neutral city through transition management. We study this case as a non-formal learning setting in which educational and political processes are intertwined. We draw on Noortje Marres' conceptual distinction between 'privatisating' and 'public-ising' forms of issue formation and use a dramaturgical analytical framework that allows us to grasp how the design of a setting shapes and transforms not only the issue at stake but also the public involved in it. The development of a climate literate public, we argue, cannot be limited to learning predefined answers but should rather enable people to think critically in relation to taken-for-granted norms by opening-up democratic spaces where people can discuss and discover options through the exploration, evaluation, and critique of emerging ideas and the creative contribution to their development.

Keywords: education; climate change; global warming; transition management; controversy; environmental literacy; case study; public pedagogy; dramaturgical analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2017.084786

International Journal of Global Warming, 2017 Vol.12 No.3/4, pp.366 - 385

Received: 01 Jun 2015
Accepted: 27 Oct 2015

Published online: 29 Jun 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article