MAKING MESSAGING ACCESSIBLE

Educational materials developed by Southampton Postdoctoral Research Fellow Sien van der Plank are helping refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in England better understand how they can adapt to climate change.

Sien is leading an Economic and Social Research Council-funded South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership project that is researching the motivations and actions of householders to adapt to coastal flood risk. As part of the Festival of Social Sciences 2020, she also collaborated with a local charity to support people with English as a second language to be better aware of available measures to adapt to climate change.

Action on, and adaptation to, climate change are important across all communities, but research shows that the language used in the advice can be a challenge for people who are learning English as a second language.

Sien has been exploring the challenges of adapting to coastal flood risk and identifying opportunities to better support coastal adaptation. Working with Engineering PhD student José Alejandro Pinto Rascon and the charity CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees), she has developed a series of lesson plans and materials aimed at these groups. The English for Speakers of Other Languages 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.

The lesson plans have successfully been delivered to groups of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Southampton, and are now available for use in English language classrooms around the country.

For more information contact sien.vanderplank@soton.ac.uk