{"id":4573,"date":"2026-05-24T21:50:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T21:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uncertain2degrees.blogs.uni-hamburg.de\/?p=4573"},"modified":"2026-05-25T10:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:27:14","slug":"beyond-the-deficit-co-producing-climate-futures-with-publics-a-university-engagement-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uncertain2degrees.blogs.uni-hamburg.de\/?p=4573","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Deficit: Co-Producing Climate Futures with Publics (A University Engagement Architecture)"},"content":{"rendered":"

From passive outreach to epistemic partnership: how universities can make publics co\u2011authors of climate futures?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Universities increasingly seek public engagement on climate change. However, most initiatives still rely on the “information deficit” model: assuming one-way knowledge transfer can prompt behaviour change (Sturgis & Allum, 2004). Cook & Overpeck (2019) show this can backfire: educative outreach may increase resistance, especially when communication is experienced as identity\u2011threatening. This imatters for climate futures research, where implementation depends not only on technical evidence but also on trust, values, social norms, and legitimacy. Chilvers (2024) argues that engagement must be treated as a process through which publics and institutions co-define problems and co-produce legitimacy.<\/p>\n

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This perspective underpins participatory and civic science approaches. Rather than assuming publics need correction, these approaches recognize that publics hold socially grounded expertise, while scientific work benefits from dialogue and negotiation. Civic science becomes a pathway to tackle \u201cwicked problems\u201d, where data alone is insufficient and participatory inquiry, collective action, and societal relevance must connect to decision-making settings (Dillon et al.,<\/em> 2016). In this view, universities are more than just places of expertise; they also serve as forums for bringing together actors, designing engagement around governance implications, and translating finds into action.<\/p>\n

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Four critical gaps in current practice:<\/p>\n