How to think about climate issues

In the stage performance on 13 May, the authors will focus on our feelings, norms and attitudes towards a green transitionand what it requires of us.

“We're making a kind of alternative show, a noise show that we call ‘Omställningsont’,” says Nina Wormbs , professor of History of Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

You're enlisting the help of a philosopher, an academic entrepreneur and a transition activist – what do they bring to the table?
“They help us make noise by talking to us and the audience about the difficult questions that many of us live with when it comes to the climate crisis.”

Is the show a ploy that scientists need to use to reach out?
“I think we've done a pretty good job of publicising our research, but it's stimulating to try to find new ways to communicate about research.”

What do you want to achieve with the book?

“It is a popularised summary of a research project that Maria Wolrath Söderberg and I conductedwas funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. We want to communicate our results to more people and also stimulate reflection and action.”

The book is said to be about climate anxiety – how?
“The book is about how people argue in favour of continuing to do things that they know can harm the climate. We have analysed such ‘climate excuses’. But we also did a study where we looked at the reasoning of people who have stopped flying for climate reasons.”

“The book brings these two studies together. Perhaps it can lead to difficult feelings for those who read it, in that they can recognise themselves and perhaps realise that they themselves are also making excuses, without really thinking about it.”

How do you feel about the performance?
“The tickets are sold out and there's a lot of interest; it feels fun and exciting. I've been on stage a lot, but this is different. There will be seriousness and research, but also a bit of nonsense.”

Text: Christer Gummeson (gummeson@kth.se)