Gail Hochachka

• Hochachka, Gail (2021). Integrating the four faces of climate change adaptation: Towards transformative change in Guatemalan coffee communities. World Development.  ISSN 0305-750X.  140, s 1- 15 . doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105361 Show summary

  Despite the complexity of climate change, the dominant definition and practice of adaptation remains reactive, incremental, and focused primarily on biophysical and techno-managerial changes. Researchers suggest this is necessary but insufficient, noting the importance of integrating subjectivity in a more comprehensive approach to adaptation and in moving toward deliberate transformation in a climate change context. Here, I consider how to expand the scope and depth of ‘adaptation’ as it is currently defined and practiced, presenting an Integral conceptual framework that integrates the ‘interior’ forms of adaptation and thus can account for the diverse ways that local people are responding to entangled changes at the local level. Drawing on case study research in Guatemala, I explore how a more balanced integration of subjective and objective adaptive capacities, in individuals and collectives, leads to four types of adaptation—personal, practical, critical-structural, and co-generative. Findings describe: 1)how critical-structural adaptations were helpful in disrupting structural arrangements in ways that practical adaptations alone were not; and 2) that the interior adaptations (personal and co-generative) were less emphasized overall but can be effectively integrated, either implicitly or explicitly, with dominant forms of adaptation practice. This study demonstrates how a more comprehensive approach to adaptation may better position communities to engage in transformative change.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020). The scenic route: A developmental approach emphasizes the importance of human interiority in transformative approaches to climate change.. Integral Review.  ISSN 1553-3069.  16(1), s 187- 214 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  What is effective climate change adaptation, at a time in history where the call for transformative change is on the increase? This article considers how to expand and deepen the largely techno-managerial concept of adaptation, often framed as that of reacting to and accommodating climate change, by integrating human interiority in a more balanced way. While the psychological and social dimensions of the climate change issue have been studied, they are less equally weighted alongside the climate science; some studies suggest that improving the integration of psycho-social change processes will be important for effective adaptation and may bode helpful in enacting transformative change. In this article, I explain my rationale and methods for including the lesser-known discipline of adult developmental psychology to examine how people make meaning of climate change, which may have important implications for adaptation policy and practice. Studies exist on ‘what’ people believe about climate change, but the insights from developmental psychology help to explain ‘why’ meaning is organized as it is. Explaining what understandings people hold is akin to the shortest distance between two points, but considering why meaning was construed as such is the scenic route. I argue that ‘taking the scenic route’ to consider the perspective-taking processes that produce such a spectrum of views on climate change may hold potential for a more comprehensive response to such a complex issue, not only to grasp why these meanings differ so vastly, but also to support improved collaboration and to help engage in adaptation as transformation.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020). Unearthing insights for climate change response in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Global Sustainability.  ISSN 2059-4798.  s 1- 10 . doi: 10.1017/sus.2020.27 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  In the first half of 2020, a dramatic, fast and widespread series of changes occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in behaviors, mindsets, culture, and systems. Yet, despite the intergovernmental calls for precisely this kind of fundamental, transformative change across society regarding global warming, public opinion on climate change is fractured and collective action is slow. More research is needed on the psychosocial dimensions of climate change, to better understand what the bottlenecks are for realizing transformative change. In this paper, I examine what occurred in the COVID-19 pandemic response that could be learned for the climate crisis. I focus on three psychological aspects that made the COVID-19 response accessible and actionable in a way that climate change is not: the mental demands for under-standing complex issues; psychological distance and its impacts on motivation and agency;and finite attentional resources that can render certain issues as non-salient. Lessons for climate engagement include: (1) the usefulness of concrete, simple, and personally-relatable messaging; (2) more diverse and democratized climate understandings and stories; (3) greater recognition about how psychological distance affects meaning-making and sense of agency;and (4) appreciation of attentional crowding and the need for sense-making strategies about complex issues.

• Hochachka, Gail (2019). On matryoshkas and meaning-making: Understanding the plasticity of climate change. Global Environmental Change.  ISSN 0959-3780.  57, s 1- 19 . doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.05.001
• Veland, Siri; Scoville-Simonds, Morgan; Gram-Hanssen, Irmelin; Schorre, Ann Kristin; El Khoury, Ann; Nordbø, Milda Jonusaite; Lynch, Amanda H.; Hochachka, Gail & Bjørkan, Maiken (2018). Narrative matters for sustainability: the transformative role of storytelling in realizing 1.5°C futures. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.  ISSN 1877-3435.  31, s 41- 47 . doi: 10.1016/j.cosust.2017.12.005 Full text in Research Archive.

View all works in Cristin

• Hochachka, Gail (2020, 02. mai). COVID Meets Climate: Salience and Luminosity. [Internett].  A New Republic of the Heart with Terry Patten. Show summary

  International development and climate change geographer Gail Hochachka examines similarities and differences between the COVID-19 pandemic and our more existential crisis of climate change. She and Terry discuss how the pandemic might be training institutions, leaders, scientists, and citizens to manage the climate crisis more effectively going forward.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020, 22. januar). Climate Change Solutions: Adapt or Transform?. [Internett].  Integral Justice Warrior with Diane Hamilton. Show summary

  In this episode of Integral Justice Warrior we are joined by special guests Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore some of the critical strategies to climate change — some of which emphasize a total top-down transformation of our political and economic systems, and others that emphasize a more incremental and adaptive approach. So what is the best choice here — adapt, or transform? To integral viewers who are very accustomed to “both/and” thinking, the answer probably won’t be too surprising.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020, 17. februar). Climate Change: From Alarmism to Anti-Fragility. [Internett].  Integral Justice Warrior with Diane Hamilton. Show summary

  What is the difference between being “resilient” and being “antifragile”? In this fascinating episode of Integral Justice Warrior, Diane and Corey are joined by Gail Hochachka and Rob McNamara to explore anti-fragile approaches to climate change. We are also joined by fellow integral enthusiast Deb Collins, who offers her own perspectives around the tragic wild fires that swept across the Australian continent. Antifragility is a concept made popular by author Nassim Nicolas Taleb in his book, Antifragile: Things that Gain From Disorder, in which Taleb posits three different characteristics any given system can have: Fragile systems tend to fall apart when hit with a system shock. Resilient systems (or “robust systems”) tend to stay the same when hit with a system shock. Antifragile systems actually change and evolve when hit with a system shock. As it becomes increasingly clear just how fragile our ecological, economic, and political systems have become, it is also becoming increasingly important that we begin to meet the many fragilities of our time with a genuinely anti-fragile response — after all, fragile reactions only produce more fragility. We are looking for solutions that are far more comfortable with volatility and uncertainty, and that can actually help systems and organizations evolve in the face of ongoing disruption. Solutions that do not deny the existence of fragility, but rather seek to increase their own anti-fragility by working to reduce fragility in the world, wherever we find it.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020). Integrating the four faces of adaptation: Toward transformative change in Guatemalan coffee communities. Show summary

  Despite the complexity of climate change, the dominant definition and practice of adaptation remains reactive, incremental, and focused primarily on biophysical and techno-managerial changes. Researchers suggest this is necessary but not sufficient, and increasingly note the importance of subjectivity, in both individuals and groups, in fostering comprehensive adaptation as well as for creating a more conscious, deliberate transformation. In this paper, I consider how to expand the scope and depth of ‘adaptation’ as it is currently defined and practiced, presenting an Integral analytical framework that weights more evenly the ‘interior’ forms of adaptation alongside a mainstream adaptation approach. Drawing on comparative case study research in Guatemalan coffee-growing communities, I explore how a more balanced integration of the subjective and objective adaptive capacities, in individuals and collectives, leads to four types of adaptation— personal, practical, critical-structural and co-generative. The research findings present: 1) two imaginaries for sustainable futures based on how the communities confronted entangled changes in their regions; 2) the interior adaptations (personal and co-generative) are less emphasized overall but can be integrated with dominant forms of adaptation practice; 3) critical-structural adaptations can particularly help disrupt status quo structural arrangements and to generate transformation, and 4) including a more comprehensive range of adaptations, and their associated adaptive capacities, may better position communities to engage in transformative change toward sustainability. My inquiry finds that the shift from adaptation to transformation, is not only possible but the latter might be closer at hand than expected.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020, 10. mars). Intersubjectivity, Social Justice, and Climate. [Internett].  Integral Justice Warrior with Diane Hamilton. Show summary

  Usually when we talk about climate change, we do so in either 3rd-person terms (e.g. the math, the models, the environmental consequences, political and economic solutions, etc.) or 1st-person terms (our values, our personal responsibilities, our own capacity for resilience and anti-fragility, etc.) This time we wanted to do something a little bit different — to take a look at climate change through the lens of 2nd-person intersubjectivity — how we live together, how we grieve together, how we create meaning together, how we relate with each other in the midst of crisis, and the many other ways that we are all in this together.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020, 31. mars). Love in the Time of Corona. [Internett].  Integral Justice Warrior with Diane Hamilton. Show summary

  A discussion about the coronavirus pandemic and how to manage the tremendous fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that can arise from it. We also explore some of the hopeful opportunities and wisdoms that are being brought to the surface by our new set of global life conditions, as well as some of the possible paths toward anti-fragility that our society can take in the wake of this pandemic.

• Hochachka, Gail (2020). Unearthing complexities: COVID-19 versus climate change. Show summary

  Alongside frustratingly slow action on climate change, in a matter of a few months at the outset of 2020, a dramatic, fast and widespread transformation of society occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In comparison, while climate science converges as never before regarding global warming, public opinion on climate change is fractured and collective action is slow. What happened here, and why are the two responses so markedly different? Applying Integral Theory to understand the differences between COVID-19 and climate change, in this presentation I harvest lessons from the pandemic to arrive at a novel perspective on why responses to the two crises have been so distinct. Join me on a deep look into four psychological aspects that made the coronavirus accessible and actionable in a way that climate change is not: 1) the complexity of meaning-making required to galvanize behaviour change, 2) the psychological distance that complicates buy-in and ownership over actions, 3 the salience of the issue being seen as worthy of immediate attention. Through discussion, we will consider these in turn and discuss how they compound and synergize, providing some clarity on the effective drivers and the tenacious sticking-points for transformations to sustainability.

• Hochachka, Gail (2019). On matryoshkas and meaning-making: Understanding the plasticity of climate change.
• Hochachka, Gail & O'Fallon, Terri (2019, 30. oktober). Climate Change and the use of the STAGES assessment for understanding worldviews. [Internett].
• O'Brien, Karen; Hochachka, Gail & Gram-Hanssen, Irmelin (2019). Creating a Culture for Transformation, In Guiseppe Feola; Hilary Geoghegen & Alex Arnall (ed.),  Climate and Culture : Multidisciplinary Perspectives on a Warming World.  Cambridge University Press.  ISBN 9781108422505.  12.  s 266 - 290
• Hochachka, Gail (2018). Beyond the floor boards and the glass ceiling: Working with stages of consciousness in a changing climate.. Show summary

  Climate change is distributed massively across time and space, difficult to grasp cognitively, and almost impossible to directly experience. Meaning regarding climate change is made differently according to a diversity of perspectives. This presents a complex challenge to humanity--a challenge which continues to evade resolution despite the excellent scientific research, supportive intergovernmental processes, and growing citizen concern. Integral theory provides some important insights, particularly from its central tenant of developmental psychology, which is currently largely absent from the climate change discourse. This presentation will examine three reasons why developmental stages of integral theory are important in climate change: 1) to disclose why people make meaning of climate change so differently, which in turn could reduce conflict and assist in finding mutual understanding between worldviews; 2) to align better with the diverse spectrum of meaning-making and thus help in crafting pathways for adaptation from within each stage; and 3) to hold open the probability spaces for later developmental stages that are more commensurate with the full complexity of the issue. As such, not only does an understanding of stages help us to meet the challenge of climate change in a spectrum of ways across a developmental unfolding, but also staying in step with an issue like climate change could itself generate emergent ground for transformation.

• Hochachka, Gail (2018). The orchestra plays while the Titanic sinks: Exploring coffee and climate change adaptation. Show summary

  Technical adaptation to climate change as been referred to as "necessary but insufficient” as to assume a technical solution is possible belies the full complexity of the issue. In this talk, I will take a deep look at this, with some preliminary research from the coffee growing regions of Guatemala as an example.

• Hochachka, Gail (2017). The tetra-meshed Earth: Depth and innovation in climate change adaptation.. Show summary

  In this talk, the contours of the challenge that is climate change is presented, namely how to grasp in meaning such a wicked problem and hyperobject: something not directly seen nor directly experienced, so radically nonlocal and involving of multiple disciplines, that exists on timeline we can’t easily conceive of, and regarding a future we can only approximate. Making sense of an issue this complex is slippery and plastic, and how we then engage it even more so. Drawing on field work in Guatemala in climate change adaptation, the talk presents some good news about the climate change field at present, describes certain gaps that persist, and then dives into the avant-garde of where we may venture in terms of climate change engagement in the future.

• Hochachka, Gail (2017). Unexpected innovations for climate change adaptation. Show summary

  This talk examines the challenge that climate change adaptation presents to the coffee sector. Coffee is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Adaptation will require many tiny hammers designed to hit context-specific nails, and as such a global value chain presents a compelling opportunity to foster adaptation at each point. The talk focuses on how adaptation could be enabled along the whole global value chain, which is construed not as a linear one-way extraction of wealth from producing regions, but rather a dynamic circulation of wealth back into the communities and ecosystems of producing regions. This has the potential to reframe the relationships of global trade, not just based on transaction but on trust, as an ecosystem where each part supports the others.

View all works in Cristin