Rebuffing the "Hard to Reach" Narrative: How to Engage Diverse Groups in Participation for Resilience
Rebuffing the "Hard to Reach" Narrative: How to Engage Diverse Groups in Participation for Resilience
复制标题
驳斥“难以到达”的说法：如何让不同群体参与抗灾能力
DOI：
10.1142/s2345737623500021
复制
发表时间：
2023
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
McEwen L
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
McEwen L
在三年（2017-2020年）的时间里，ESRC系列研讨会“民间机构、社会和气候适应极端天气”（CASCADE-NET）批判性地审视了民间社会在极端天气适应方面不断变化的作用。一个全天的研讨会探讨了民间社会中“较少被听到的声音”，探讨了让不同群体参与复原力、知识交流和能力建设的方法。研讨会的一个小型跨学科小组随后在网上进行了一次圆桌讨论，首先讨论了社会上谁的声音更少，以及如何重新评估“弱势”和“难以触及”等标签，并得出结论，往往是那些掌权的人让自己“难以触及”，他们没有倾听。然后，该小组讨论了如何通过改善关系和网络实现与公民和社区更深入的接触。最后，圆桌会议讨论了影响英国（以及其他国家）的一系列危机如何（矛盾地）成为推动建立一个更团结、更包容的公民社会的时机。结论部分总结了圆桌会议的主要见解，并确定了重新考虑与“难以接触”的群体接触的机会。为了回答“如何”吸引不同群体的问题，我们总结了改变强国方向的行动要点：(1)真正开放地倾听，并根据较少听到的群体的声音采取行动；（ii）听取不同群体的意见，而不是强迫他们接受预先安排好的咨询形式；（iii）尽早、广泛和频繁地参与；（iv）通过行动表明倾听的意愿来建立信任；（五）解决历史上的不信任、资源不平等、被忽视或剥削的经历，这些都会削弱群体与强权接触的兴趣。如果我们要在面对社会冲击时产生有效的、与地方协调一致的集体行动，就必须将方向转变为社区参与。
Across three years (2017–2020), the ESRC Seminar series, “Civil Agency, Society and Climate Adaptation to Weather Extremes” (CASCADE-NET) critically examined the changing role of civil society in extreme weather adaptation. One full-day seminar explored “less heard voices” within Civil Society, considering ways of engaging diverse groups in resiliency, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. A small interdisciplinary group from the seminar followed up with a roundtable discussion, conducted online, discussing first who the less-heard voices in society are, and how labels, such as “vulnerable” and “hard to reach”, might need to be reappraised, and concluding that it is often those in power who make themselves “hard to reach” and who fail to listen. The group then discussed how deeper engagement with citizens and communities can be achieved through improved relationships and networks. Finally, the roundtable discussed how the succession of crises affecting the UK (and other settings) could, paradoxically, present an opportune moment to press the case for a more joined-up and inclusive civil society. The concluding section summarizes key insights from the roundtable and identifies opportunities to rethink engagement with “hard to reach” groups. To answer our question of “how to” engage diverse groups, we conclude with the action points to change the orientation of the powerful to (i) be genuinely open to listening to, and acting upon the voices of less heard groups; (ii) listen on the terms of groups who are voicing their experience, rather than force them into pre-arranged consultation formats; (iii) engage early, widely and frequently; (iv) build trust by demonstrating willingness to listen, through actions; (v) tackle historical mistrust, unequal resources, experiences of neglect or exploitation that undermine groups’ interest in engaging with the powerful. A transformation in orientation to community engagement is in order if we are to produce effective, locally attuned, collective action in the face of social shocks.