The other voice of Climate Change:A case study of community-based adaptivecapacities, through the analysis of activists’networks, building resilience, in South Africa

Abstract: The concept of climate change has been in the debate, not only at the international level, but also locally, for decades. However, activists around the world have come together to raise their voices and address once and for all the environmental crisis that we are facing today. In that sense, the following research analysed the voices of activists, and their network, in South Africa. With the aim to understand the formation of community-based adaptive capacities in relation to climate change, in communities. This Thesis was conducted as a case study in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The study included five semi-structured interviews directed to activist from Bloemfontein, as well as, secondary data conformed by five interviews conducted to members of the eco-building project ‘Qala Pheland Tala. Start Living Green’, and story-telling videos. As well as, the employment of participant observation, as part of the methodology. The study looked at climate change adaptability and resilience in different communities, based on the resilience theory proposed by Carl Folke. And itaimed to understand the influence that the activists’ network is having incommunity-based adaptation strategies to climate change. Further, the results were categorized with the framework that suggests a Resilience Model, as a set of networked adaptive capacities, designed by Norris et al. (2007). The analysis of the results concluded that the link between the activists’network and the communities, has helped to build adaptive capacities and resilient societies. At the same time, it proved that we need new strategies of action towards climate change, that foresee regenerative societies.