As PhD researcher at the Urban Futures Studio I am exploring the intersection of climate politics, emotions and public engagement in the frame of the EU-wide CIDAPE project: Climate, Inequality and Democratic Action: The Power of Political Emotions.
Climate politics is emotionally charged and increasingly polarized. The inevitability of the end of ‘business as usual’, combined with the general complexity and uncertainty of sustainability transitions is what makes the present so inherently difficult and climate politics so emotionally charged. The belief in linear progress towards achieving climate goals now seems woefully naive. Yet we must learn to resolve conflicts, creat new ambitions and, at best, find ways to work together towards a better future. Civil servants often try to realize these democratic ambitions through public engagement. However, it is often unclear how to deal with the hotness of such processes. In citizen participation, emotions are often seen as destabilizing forces that need to be kept in check. However, I believe that emotions can also be a key resource to revitalize democratic processes. During my PhD, I investigate emotions' role in hindering and enabling effective citizen engagement.
How can we learn to address emotions to create the necessary tailwind for climate policies? How do we design participatory processes? After analysing the state of the art of public engagement and engaging with civil servants, mediators, and citizens, the main goal of my PhD is to develop new tools and techniques for citizen participation about climate politics. I work on this together with my colleagues from the Urban Futures Studio. My PhD is part of the EU Horizon project CIDAPE: Climate, Inequality and Democratic Action: The Force of Political Emotions
The imperative for me to understand the meaning of conflict in times of political change and rethink climate politics in more democratic ways has derived from researching the coal mine expansion conflict in North Rhine-Westphalia. My work questioned the current understanding of energy transitions and emphasized the importance of responding to emotional dynamics and meaning-making of societies in transitions.
I am holding a bachelor's degree in Global Sustainability Sciences with a specialisation on Governance and Societal Transformation (Utrecht University) and a master's degree in Conflict Resolution and Governance (University of Amsterdam) from which I graduated cum laude. Formerly, I have worked with Greenpeace Germany and Greenpeace International, where I became very acquainted with the work of CSOs in the environmental governance arena on national and international levels.