Spreading the word on adapting to climate change

How materials developed through research are helping refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in England better understand how they can adapt to climate change.

Sien van der Plank, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton, is leading a project that is ensuring people with English as a second language are better aware of the measures required to adapt to climate change.

Increasing climate change requires adaptation across all communities and Sien has been exploring the challenges of adapting to coastal flood risk and identifying opportunities to better support coastal adaptation. Research shows that the language used in the advice can be a challenge for people who are learning English as a second language. Working with Engineering PhD student José Alejandro Pinto Rascon and the charity City Life Education and Action for Refugees (CLEAR), Sien has developed a series of lesson plans and materials aimed at these groups of people. The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) lesson plans focus on climate change, flooding and heatwaves by introducing vocabulary

around these areas, as well as identifying outlets for further information on the current and future risks.

They have been delivered to groups of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Southampton, and are now available for future use in English language classrooms around the country. “By partnering with CLEAR in this project, I gained a better understanding of how challenging the vocabulary of adaptation can be when English is not an individual’s first language.”

Dr Sien van der Plank

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Southampton

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