In her new book You Matter More Than You Think: Quantum Social Change for a Thriving World, professor Karen O'Brien explores how and why each of us matter more than we think in the work to create a just and sustainable future.
Publications
What’s at the heart of transformation? This is the question addressed in a new perspective in Sustainability Science by Coleen Vogel and Karen O’Brien.
Such an innovative way of looking at transformation. In this article Siri Veland, Irmelin Gram-Hanssen, David Maggs and Amanda Lynch use music as an entry point for talking about different levels of engagement in transformation to sustainability.
In this paper Gail Hochachka explores an approach through which we might find shared meaning at the interface of individual and collective views about climate change. She takes us to Guatemala and describes how coffee producers reflected first on their own climate meanings and then engaged in a meaning-making process with other actors in the coffee value chain.
College and university students are eager to engage with transformative solutions to the climate crisis, but often struggle to see openings or possibilities where they can leverage their actions and really “make a difference. This article explores the "how" of transformation in teaching.
What began as an exciting conversation in 2019 at a AdaptationCONNECTS conference in Norway is now in print in the journal Sustainability Science: Decolonizing transformations through "right relations".
In this Energy Research and Science article, co-authored by over 170 transformations researchers and practitioners, calls for a shift in our current knowledge systems so that they can better support society to address future challenges.
What is effective climate change adaptation, at a time when the call for transformative change is on the increase? This article by AdaptationCONNECTS' Doctoral Research Fellow Gail Hochachka considers how to expand and deepen the largely techno-managerial concept of adaptation by integrating human interiority in a more balanced way.
What's the potential of art and transformative learning to empower young people to address climate change? In this article, Julia Bentz and Karen O´Brien explore how climate-related art projects in education shift mindsets and open up imaginative spaces where students can explore and discover their role in addressing climate change and sustainability challenges.
How can sustainability science be more effective and inspire people to reflect and act so that we see faster progress on global sustainability goals? Paul Shrivastava, Mark Stafford Smith, Laszlo Zsolnai and Karen O´Brien discuss where sustainability science is currently failing, what's missing, and what can be done about it.
How can climate change education align with what is needed and meet the engagement we see among youth today? In this thought provoking article, Robin Leichenko and Karen O´Brien argue that the time has come to transform courses and teaching on climate change.
Emma Arnold has published a book review of Graffiti and Street Art: Reading, Writing and Representing the City, edited by Konstantinos Avramidis and Myrto Tsilimpounidi, for the journal Urban Studies.The review has additionally been published on the Urban Studies blog.
Is the reason we struggle to understand and solve environmental challenges because we don’t have a sufficient vocabulary? “An Ecotopian Lexicon” has collected words from 30 different cultures to help explain our feelings and envision an inspiring world. Karen O´Brien and Ann Kristin Schorre have contributed to this new volume with the Norwegian word "ildsjel”.
This chapter is part of the book "Climate and Culture" and contribute to shed light on how culture interact with the way societies understand, live with, and act in relation to climate change.
This bold and important new book presents current and emerging thinking on the social dimensions of climate change. Using clear language and powerful examples, it introduces key concepts and frameworks for understanding the multifaceted connections between climate and society.
Nine short stories, rooted in the complex reality of the climate crisis, are presented in this inspiring book.
In an article published in Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, Julia Bentz and Karen O'Brien explore the role of art as a driver for societal transformation in a changing climate and consider how an experiment with change can facilitate reflection on relationships between individual change and systems change.
Gail Hochachka
Irmelin Gram-Hanssen
Emma Arnold has published a book review of the Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art, edited by criminologist Jeffrey Ian Ross, for the Journal of Urban Design.
In this paper, Emma Arnold explores the potential of psychogeographic walking and urban photography for conducting critical urban research.
Karen O'Brien
Irmelin Gram-Hanssen
Not Peer-Reviewed
Siri Veland, Morgan Scoville-Simonds, Irmelin Gram-Hansen, Ann Kristin Schorre, Ann El Khoury, Milda Jonusaite Nordbø, Amanda Lynch, Gail Hochachka, Maiken Bjørkan