Engaged in Learning - the Consensus Conference Model as a Pedagogy for Climate Change

The climate change debate is influenced by the myriad of values, interests and citizen understandings underpinning this complex topic.This chapter explores how participative democracy initiatives can move beyond seeking public opinion to become tools for community education, involving everyday citizens in authentic deliberation around topics such as climate change. Through an exploration of Australia’s second consensus conference on sea level rise in the Asia Pacific, this chapter investigates the opportunity for one method of participative democracy - the consensus conference - to provide an interdisciplinary, deliberative learning forum to engage everyday citizens in interdisciplinary research and dialogue with a range of experts. The consensus conference model is discussed as a potential pedagogy for climate change education at the community level. The chapter highlights how community deliberation based on personal stories and developing individual understandings can inspire innovative and multi-faceted solutions that respond, and contribute to, the climate change debate.