Participatory research and community engagement in climate and health research

Human-induced climate change is one of the defining health challenges of the twenty-first century. The World Health Organization estimated in 2014 that climate change will be linked to approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. These deaths, caused by undernutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress, will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations. Therefore, generating evidence on the interactions between climate change and health is a priority for planning effective adaptation and mitigation strategies across multiple governance levels.

Designing and conducting such research carries ethical questions, especially amid climate and sociopolitical uncertainties, and methodological limitations. Research often involves communities that are already socioeconomically or politically marginalized, and whose capacity to influence decision-making is limited. In this scenario, participatory research and community engagement are often advocated as best practices. Yet their implementation presents practical and ethical challenges, including questions such as who defines research agendas; what constitutes meaningful participation and why it should be pursued; and how and why diverse forms of knowledge and perspective are negotiated in research design, analysis and dissemination.