Module 6: Introduction
This module continues to weave together core concepts from earlier in the course and puts them into application. When it comes to collaboration and partnership, particularly when working across teams, disciplines or sectors, the principles of good dialogue are essential, as are strategic questions about who to involve and when.
This module focuses less on theory and more on considerations for the role of strategic engagement and dialogue in the development and functioning of interdisciplinary teams and partnerships.
When it comes to climate adaptation, interdisciplinary collaboration is particularly important. In the report Professionals’ Best Practices for Low Carbon Resilience, developed by Simon Fraser University’s’ Adaptation to Climate Change Team, lead author, Erica Crawford (2018), identified “Limited collaboration and alignment among professionals & across sectors” as one of the key barriers to the uptake and implementation of low carbon resilience practices among professionals. In the summary of findings from engagement sessions with professionals and professional associations, Crawford (2018) writes that,
“…[S]iloed thinking among professions leads to lack of awareness of the parts of the system outside specific roles and projects, and the ways these are interconnected, for example, the interconnections between zoning requirements, agricultural uses, biodiversity and infrastructure engineering in decisions about development and infrastructure planning. These types of processes typically involve many different professionals who are often not coordinated in ways that align their skills and drive effective collaboration” (p. 9).
This pattern of siloed work can occur within organizations, across regions and within initiatives or projects. As a result, the principles, methods and reflections provided in this module are relevant to both the work of embedding adaptation within organizations as discussed in Module Five, and wider community engagement efforts, which will be explored in more depth in Module Seven.
