Rising Voices 12 (2024)

The driving question for the first (2013) Rising Voices workshop at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) included: What are the elements of successful co-production of science and policy in the related fields of extreme weather and climate change? Over a decade later, engaging both Indigenous and Earth sciences to address climate change challenges is increasingly accepted and promoted within mainstream scientific enterprises. Funding agencies and institutions are increasingly requiring “meaningful community engagement” for research proposals and the “co-production of knowledge” is the term du jour in climate science research.

“The urgent threat posed by our climate crisis necessitates innovative actions. Innovation is an opportunity to look beyond Earth sciences to  solutions in other knowledge systems and, in doing so, to support the rising voices of those who have been historically marginalized.” – Lazrus et al., 2022

In this context, and building from the Rising Voices’ Declaration on Relationships and the Wise Use and Applications of Technologies for Climate Actions for Everyone, we’re poised to learn from where we’ve been and grow into where we’re going. How can we work to better advance science, remove the boundaries between science and society, and create innovative partnerships among collaborators with diverse disciplinary and cultural backgrounds to support adaptive and resilient communities, and to achieve culturally relevant and scientifically robust climate and weather actions?

This workshop will bring participants together to work on proposed pathways and guidelines for intercultural collaborations for co-created, place-based Earth systems science research, policy, practice and action. The focus will include the: 

• Rising Voices’ core priorities: (1) advancing science through collaborations that bring Indigenous and Earth sciences into partnership; (2) create opportunities for Indigenous students and early career scientists through scientific and community mentoring, and (3) support adaptive and resilient communities through sharing scientific capacity.
• Topics of Community relocation/site expansion; Education, Communication, Training, & Outreach; Energy Systems; Food Systems; Human Health; Phenology; and Water Systems.

The objective is to develop general guidelines, principles, and evaluative processes that can be adapted for place-based intercultural collaborations that support climate actions, and to facilitate the initiation of such collaborations in the relationship building phase. The Rising Voices Center serves as a connective webbing, creating linkages and space for new collaborations to have their own life. This workshop focus is in direct response from requests by Rising Voices participants to initiate more regional and place-based gatherings and work, enabling a process of co-learning together.