‘How can experience of local residents be “knowledge”?’ Challenges in interdisciplinary climate change research

2015/04/19 by Emily T Yeh, Emily T. Yeh · 108 citations
Engineering · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration #Climate change #Ecology #Engineering #Engineering ethics #Epistemology #Ontology #Social science #Sociology #Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

paper · doi:10.1111/area.12189

published in Area 48(1), 34-40 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2015/04/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Despite widespread acceptance of the idea of working across disciplines and methods in climate change research, the interpretive social sciences continue to be relatively neglected in interdisciplinary research endeavours. Much greater appreciation across epistemological differences is necessary for inclusive collaborative efforts, which in turn requires explicit discussion of what those differences are. Based on the author's participation in an interdisciplinary research project on climate change in T ibet, this article discusses three conceptual challenges: knowledge, system and ontology.

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• Global environmental change: local perceptions, understandings, and explanations. [europepmc]
• Local climate change cultures: climate-relevant discursive practices in three emerging economies. [europepmc]
• Convergences and divergences between scientific and Indigenous and Local Knowledge contribute to inform carnivore conservation. [europepmc]
• Indigenous early warning indicators for improving natural hazard predictions. [europepmc]

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