Ep. 87 (Part 1 of 2) | Climate change researcher, sustainable development expert, and activist Gail Hochachka works on the front lines of climate change research, asking—and answering—questions like: How does the way we make meaning, at all our different stages of development, relate to the ways we act on climate change? How can we foster more engagement with climate change? Is climate action scalable? And how are we going to show up for the people who are facing the greatest impacts? So far, in searching for solutions, we have largely neglected tapping into the human dimensions of the problem—the ways we understand climate change, the ways we respond, and the ways we can communicate together and make decisions about how to act. Herein lies the potential to come up with more viable solutions than we have so far, and this is the focus of Gail’s current research.

Climate change is such a hugely complex and also emotional issue, it is understandably hard for anyone to wrap their head around it, Gail tells us, but the good news is that research is showing that taking action—in whatever way seems most appropriate and meaningful to each individual—is scalable, and that there are ways, which Gail outlines, of creating meaningful communication between people who have very different understandings, to where people can actually come to a place of agreement on how to move forward. Gail’s deep understanding of integral theory and stages of psychological development, combined with her extensive experience in sustainable development, gives her a uniquely insightful perspective on ways of confronting the climate challenge. Gail relates that, surprisingly, a positive way to look at climate change has come to light, which is that climate change is actually presenting us with an opportunity—an opportunity to become more conscious about the way we live, to the great benefit of people and planet. Recorded January 18, 2023.

“We know that individuals collectively created the problem of climate change…but when it comes to solutions, we don’t honor that we individuals count.”

(For Apple Podcast users, click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1

Introducing Gail Hochachka, climate change expert & researcher at the University of British Columbia, who brings a profound integral understanding to the way we look at climate change (01:05)
What are the most exciting research findings? Global problems are actually global symptoms, and we need to look at what shaped the actual problems to come up with effective solutions (02:24)
When we integrate the human dimensions into the global environmental problems, solutions become more apparent (03:47)
How much of climate change can we actually make meaning of? We make a whole mental model based on only a fragment of the problem (04:32)
The knowledge deficit model: do we do the right thing and respond skillfully if we have all the knowledge we need? No. (06:15)
The value action gap in climate change: when it comes to making changes in our lifestyle, we don’t (08:24)
The need to foster worldcentric awareness in order to foster climate action (10:08)
Gnostic intermediaries: speaking across different cultures, translating concepts across space & time, translating meaning across developmental stages (13:14)
How to approach engagement on environmental issues and the 5 why’s of what is most important to people...

Gail Hochachka (Part 1) - The Psychology of Climate Change: Understanding the Causes and Finding Solutions to the Great Challenge of Our Time

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