CO-EXPLORING TERMINOLOGIES

The document describes a transdisciplinary workshop activity aimed at creating a "level playing field" of knowledge by clarifying often-misunderstood climate terms. It outlines a process where participants categorize statements to distinguish between weather, climate, adaptation, mitigation, disaster risk reduction, and development. The briefing highlights benefits such as increased receptivity to climate science and improved stakeholder ability to articulate information needs, illustrated by a case study in Windhoek, Namibia, where the activity supported the development of the city's first Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan.

• Terminology acts as a barrier to climate change understanding and action, particularly for those with limited interdisciplinary experience who may misunderstand terms like weather, climate, adaptation, mitigation, sustainable development, and disaster risk reduction.
• The co-exploration activity uses a game-based approach where participants cooperatively assign written statements to specific concepts, followed by facilitator-led clarification and rearrangement of those statements to establish a shared foundation for deeper discussion.
• The exercise is specifically beneficial for groups with varying levels of knowledge, contexts where climate science terms are misused, or situations where decision-makers need to better articulate their climate-information requirements.
• In Windhoek, Namibia, the activity helped stakeholders develop the city's first Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan by clarifying the dual meaning of 'mitigation' (reducing flood impact vs. reducing greenhouse gas emissions) and demonstrating the co-benefits of actions like planting trees.

APA

Daniels, E., & Bharwani, S. (n.d.). CO-EXPLORING TERMINOLOGIES. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/co-exploring-terminologies-explainer.pdf

Chicago

Daniels, Elizabeth, and Sukaina Bharwani. CO-EXPLORING TERMINOLOGIES. Stockholm Environment Institute, n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/co-exploring-terminologies-explainer.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Daniels |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Bharwani |first2=Sukaina |title=CO-EXPLORING TERMINOLOGIES |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/co-exploring-terminologies-explainer.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{danielsndcoexploring, author = {Daniels, Elizabeth and Bharwani, Sukaina}, title = {{CO-EXPLORING TERMINOLOGIES}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/co-exploring-terminologies-explainer.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }