Project description
Promoting climate change mitigation in Maasailand
Maasailand in Tanzania is a place of resilient traditions that have resulted in colliding worldviews with recent modern and cultural changes. Indigenous knowledge systems and public science campaigns exist side by side. Yet, Tanzanian government efforts to increase environmental science awareness have not been productive. The EU-funded OBCCMM project seeks to develop culturally sensitive climate change mitigation approaches that leverage the established model of church-led health care and HIV/AIDS prevention. Through pedagogical research and integrating indigenous knowledge, the project aims to come up with a set of best practices to promote environmental protection amongst Maasai people which can facilitate constructive dialogue with the government and the scientific community.
Objective
“Ontological Bridge-building for Climate Change Mitigation in Maasailand” (OBCCMM) is a multidisciplinary project that builds bridges across clashing climate ontologies in Maasailand in Tanzania. This holistic project integrates indigenous knowledge and climate science that is negotiated through ecotheological frameworks. The collaboratively developed core values and learning outcomes are worked into curricula components four target research groups. This project leverages existing educational and societal systems of the church with trusted local leaders for educating and equipping with the best practices of climate change mitigation in Maasailand.
This project grows out of recent research that demonstrates a “cognitive dissonance” [clash] between the climate ontologies within the scientific messaging and the traditional Maasai worldview (de Wit, 2020). Thus, the Tanzanian governmental efforts in climate change prevention education are not effective among Maasai, a very traditional people group numbering around two million people in mostly northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, East Africa (de Wit, 2018). However, as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, there is an established basic model of the church providing a strategic role in bridging the cognitive dissonance chasm between the science and a skeptical people group, resulting in effective outcomes (Watt et al., 2009). This project expands the current research; builds upon the previous church-based pedagogy models; integrates indigenous knowledge; collaboratively curates core values and learning outcomes; champions women as the core of the societal structures; and develops innovative pedagogical dissemination with robust analysis of results in order to measure and determine best practices of climate change mitigation in Maasailand.
As the local church made a difference in the health of the people regarding HIV/AIDS, the local church can make a difference in the health of the environment.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit GrantCoordinator
0370 OSLO
Norway