FOCUS | Call for Submission on Climate Change

We are calling for submission to our FOCUS: Climate Change!

Anthropogenic climate change has emerged as one of the most challenging issues in the twenty-first century threatening humankind’s existence. The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly visible globally. Although understanding standalone weather events in relation to climate change is a complex task, the increased frequency and intensity of these events in the recent years requires much more of our attention.

The melting of Arctic ice and Himalayan glaciers, the strengthening of El Niño in South America and its implications on the monsoon in South Asia, the unprecedented floods in Kerala in India in August 2018, and the current wildfires in California in US are alarming warnings, as well as glimpses of the future affected by climate change.

The natural environment, human societies and wildlife face series of consequences because of these disastrous events: Devastation of people’s lives, huge economic losses, large scale regional and global migrations, emerging social and political unrests, and disappearance of plants, animals and natural resources, ultimately leading to a world that is not habitable.

The UN Climate Conference 2018 will be happening as a response to global concerns towards climate change. We, at Critical Edges, feel a pressing need to bring “climate change” into the forefront for investigation, analysis and action.

In this Focus, we hope to present well-grounded analysis of the complex causes, symptoms, and effects of this phenomena and of the future facing us; we hope that students everywhere can engage in meaningful and multi-perspective discussions, as well as gain deeper understanding of the relationship between climate change and the societies which creates it; and we hope that we can share knowledge to inspire and encourage more people to find ways to stop climate change and work towards more sustainable societal structures.

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For submissions, we would like to see

• Theoretical or scientific analysis and investigation of the causes of climate change as well as the coping mechanisms to it in the natural and social spheres.
• Socio-politico-cultural debates in the discourse around climate change.
• Personal stories and experiences with climate change.
• Examples of local or global environmental activism and projects (prefer student driven).
• Descriptions or representations of the consequences of climate change locally or globally.

You can submit in a wide variety of genres: Essay, article, interview, poetry, video, music, art, podcast etc. Get creative and get your ideas across!

Additionally, we provide a few more detailed writing prompts to help you get started if you are looking for additional ideas.

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Writing Prompts

1. Layered consequences of climate change

Today humans experience a shallow connection with nature in the context of globalization, technological advancement, industrialization/post-industrialization, and neoliberal policies. We have exploited nature more than its capacity to build the current world. That said, an ever growing consciousness about humans’ impact on the earth is emerging across the world. So we see changing ideas and action to protect the environment, the human conditions, and wildlife involved in order to create better environmental, social, political and economic systems.

How would you analyse or understand the multi-layered and complex causes and consequences  of climate change? And what change do you think are critical for a more just and sustainable future for our future generations?

2. Environmental activism

Nowadays many individuals and organizations devote themselves to advocating for protection of the natural environments from destruction and pollution. You not only see environmental groups that work in communities on tangible environmental solutions or do advocacy work. You also see large groups of people coming together to demand change. Take for instance, the climate marches in Europe demand government and industries to stop deforestation and opt for an energy revolution in the Hambacher Forest in Germany. In US Dakota, there have been solidarity protests to stop fossil fuel pipelines supported by state government and oil industries. And in China, the public and journalists have been able to push the government to regulate the state-own energy enterprises to drastically lower air pollution.

What is your experience with and opinions on environmental activism? What are the most important goals for environmental activists? Where is it most needed? How would you understand the role it plays to create change in the social, political, economic structure that creates climate change?

3. The role of science and education

What does climate change mean to science? The sciences, their developments and fruits, have played a big role for the creation of the affluent societies, now causing the catastrophe to happen. The sciences have, for the most part, until now been considered something which ought naturally to be objective and valueless. What should science, whether social or natural science, look like in an era when our societies are heading towards the abyss? Should these new historic realities have consequences for a concept of truth, applied in the so called valueless sciences?

Also, we think and do as how education shapes us. The fact that we have fallen into the climate change crisis tells us that the education we receive today does not properly guide us to understand or take action towards the challenges that affects our survival.

How has or has not your education prepared you and others around you for the occuring events? What changes would you like to bring to your education system? What new educational goals would you propose (such as “climate literacy”)? What different knowledge and pedagogy can guide the next generations to take informed actions? Overall, what roles should institutions, schools, and universities play in the green transformation we should be seeing?

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Send us your work

• Learn about our submission guidelines
• Via e-mail to ce.submission@gmail.com
• Use “month submission + title + name” as the subject in the email
• Please send us your work by the end of February 2019 

Our Climate Change FOCUS will last start publishing from January 2019.

Respectfully,
Critical Edges Editorial Board