Rurality, identity, and motivations for tackling climate change (or not): a duoethnography

Abstract

In this duoethnography, two rural Canadian women explore personal memories, stories, and conversations to illuminate the factors involved in our willingness/unwillingness to change to become more climate conscious in our everyday lives. Rural areas remain understudied and face unique challenges in sustaining changes to become more climate conscious. This work presents the divergent narratives of one person (myself) striving to make significant changes to her life in light of the climate crisis and another who resists these changes. Together we attempt to answer the question, ‘What motivates and/or prevents us from living climate-conscious lives?’ Our answers provide depth and insight into the influence of identity, belonging, relationships, early formative educational experience, and place on one’s beliefs, emotions, and actions for our changing climate. This study will be valuable for environmental educators seeking to effect social change, as it will offer real examples of the complicated and diverse contexts that affect opinions on the climate crisis and inform pedagogical practice. Through this, I call for environmental educators to critically reflect on the influence that their contexts play in informing their own climate beliefs, emotions, and actions.

Keywords:

• Duo-ethnography
• qualitative
• rural
• change
• climate

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.