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Start Over Topic adaptation Publisher springer japan
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19. Mind the gap: The role of mindfulness in adapting to increasing risk and climate change

Author

Christine Wamsler

Subjects
Health (social science), Mindfulness, Sociology and Political Science, Geography, Planning and Development, Well-being, Emotions, Climate change, 050109 social psychology, Review Article, Native knowledge, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Inner transformation, Empirical research, Compassion, 0502 economics and business, Urban governance, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, Adaptation, Adaptation (computer science), Nature and Landscape Conservation, Sustainable development, Global and Planetary Change, Ecology, 05 social sciences, Environmental ethics, Inner transition, Urban transformation, Mindful climate adaptation, Planning, Political mindfulness, Sustainability, Traditional knowledge, Risk reduction, Nexus (standard), Organisational mindfulness, 050203 business & management
Abstract

It is becoming clear that increasingly complex global challenges cannot simply be solved by new technology or governments alone. We also need to develop new social practices and encourage a broader cultural shift towards sustainability. Against this background, this paper explores the role of mindfulness in adapting to increasing risk and climate change. Based on a literature review, it assesses current research on ‘mindful climate adaptation’, and explores how individual mindfulness is linked to climate adaptation. While in practice mindfulness-based approaches to climate adaptation have gained widespread recognition (e.g., by the United Nations), the results show that related research is scarce and fragmented. There is almost no research into the role of mindfulness in climate adaptation. At the same time, new scientific domains are opening up in cognate fields that illuminate the mindfulness–adaptation nexus from certain perspectives. These fields include: (1) disaster management; (2) individual well-being; (3) organisational management; (4) environmental behaviour; (5) social justice; and (6) knowledge production. As new concepts and approaches emerge, they require critical construct validation and empirical testing. The importance of further investigation is supported by a complementary empirical study, which shows that individual mindfulness disposition coincides with increased motivation to take (or support) climate adaptation actions. The paper concludes that mindfulness has the potential to facilitate adaptation at all scales (through cognitive, managerial, structural, ontological, and epistemological change processes) and should, therefore, become a core element in climate and associated sustainability research. Finally, it sketches the conceptual trajectories of the mindfulness–adaptation nexus and presents a pioneering, comprehensive framework for ‘mindful climate adaptation’.

Published
2018