FHV341 Disability, Social Justice & Climate-Resilient Development

Climate disruption poses major risks to human health and livelihoods, in ways that are compounding and creating new forms of health inequality, particularly at the intersections of poverty, ethnicity, race, gender, age, disability and nationality. Disabled people - comprising 15% of the global population - are disproportionately exposed to such risks, experiencing higher mortality and morbidity during extreme weather events and fewer opportunities to participate in climate action. At the same time, disabled people also often posess invaluable insights into how to live with uncertainty, problem-solving in the face of the unexpected, and interdependence with society and the environment. Beyond the moral imperative to ‘leave no-one behind’, as foregrounded by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, an inaccessible response to the climate crisis will limit the proportion of the population who can inform, contribute to and progress the transformations required.This module will include critical perspectives, integrating conceptual, applied and research-led learning activities to foreground the imperative - and key opportunities - to think with and through disabled difference in climate change scholarship, policy and practice to inform more resilient, fair and inclusive climate change responses. We will explore how these perspectives help understand the ethical, political and practical underpinnings of collective resilience and the societal choices through which climate resilient development and a livable future for all can be advanced.Although hosted and administered independently by each institution, this module would be taught collaboratively with expert colleagues at the University of Exeter (including Senior Lecturer Dr. Sarah Bell) and Makerere University, Uganda (including Prof David Mfitumukiza). This will create novel opportunities for interactive, cross-cultural student learning and collaboration, alongside guest lectures by expert scholars in the field of climate justice and disability.At the outset, cross-cultural student working groups will be established and students given training in reflexivity and PhotoVoice/photo documentation techniques, encouraging them to examine and reflect on how different socio-cultural-spatial contexts are shaping their own perspectives of - and responses to - varied facets of disability, social justice and climate change. Students will be given broad themes/ cases to work with in the cross-cultural groups. Aim for group sizes of at least 9 students (3 from each university).Guest lectures will be invited via collaborators and existing contacts of the team.Key module content will include: conceptualising disability, climate justice, eco-ableism and intersectionality; disability-inclusive climate mitigation, adaptation (importance of locally-led adaptation context), migration and disaster-risk reduction; disability-inclusive climate governance and climate-resilient development.

Acquired knowledge:After completion of the course the students will demonstrate critical appraisal of the contemporary theories and concepts that underpin disability, social justice and climate resilient development.The students will be able to explain, using pertinent global examples, key political, economic and social considerations for embedding disability and social justice in climate resilient development.Acquired skills and competence:The students will be able Critically analyse and reflect on how different socio-cultural contexts and individual experiences shape perspectives of - and responses to - varied facets of disability, social justice and climate disruption.They will be able to communicate key concepts and reflections clearly and competently in a range of formats