Project Background:
All over the world, people are experiencing the effects of climate change in a variety of ways. Droughts, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and wildfires are some of the most obvious effects. Climate change has been linked to increased famine, joblessness, conflict, and displacement. These effects are particularly apparent in poor, rural communities. These result in equally significant strains on the social bonds in these communities. Under these accelerating pressures, cultures and communities that have successfully overcome challenges for generations are suddenly in danger of breaking down.
The Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities is an international collaboration across academia, practice, and policy that convenes people to discuss research and evidence about the role of religions in humanitarian and development work. The collaboration, founded in 2012, serves as an open access knowledge-sharing platform and research network for all sectors and organizations of all backgrounds. Their work is divided topically into the following hubs: Anti-Trafficing & Modern Slavery, Ending Violence against Children, Gender-Based Violence, and Refugees. They are exploring the opportunity of creating a new Learning Hub around climate change. There is extensive research documenting these significant negative impacts on communities worldwide. The Joint Learning Initiative (JLI) is trying to understand how to better support these communities and build the assets available to counter these impacts. This project will partner with the Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), an international non-profit and member of JLI, that collaborates with church partners and local organizations on development programs and has been actively engaged in the climate discussions at JLI.
Definition of Opportunity:
JLI is interested in producing a study, using Ghana and Sri Lanka as comparative cases, to understand how stakeholders at multiple scales - from communities and organizations to individual leaders and community members - are coming together to adapt to these stressors. These adaptations may include migration in and out of rural communities, which may enhance resilience while at the same time creating new stresses. An understanding of how these adaptations operate within local perceptions, practices, history, norms, and beliefs will be essential to identifying responses that have the potential to be sustained. JLI has a particular interest in understanding the current and potential role of faith communities (conceptualized broadly to include faith-based NGOs, clergy, people of faith, etc) in protecting and strengthening the social bonds affected by climate change.
What does success look like?
It would be useful to have a 10-15 page final briefing paper on the findings, with a one-page executive summary, that can be shared with the learning hub and provide the foundation for future work. We are also interested in making further connections with academics and faith-based organizations in the case study countries, which could be an outcome of the case study process.
Meet the Team:
