Our Mission

Mission Statement

Developmental Scientists for Climate Action (DevSCA) has been formed to support researchers, educators, and practitioners concerned with the impacts of climate change on human development. Its purposes are to provide an avenue for communication and collaboration among developmental scientists, build empirical and theoretical understanding of the issues involved, and use this information to inform advocacy for action. This statement provides background to the main issues behind this effort and an invitation to developmental scientists to contribute to this endeavor.

Climate change is affecting human development across the globe.  The effects occur at every point in the lifespan, from the prenatal period to old age, and they threaten the health and wellbeing of current and future generations in many ways. For example, extreme weather events such as floods and wildfires, and slower-acting climate changes such as droughts and sea level rise, cause deaths, injuries, ill-health and psychological trauma; disrupt family and community support systems; reduce access to basic needs including food, clean water and shelter; destroy infrastructure for health, education and social services; and lead to forced migration or relocation. People’s awareness of current and future climate disruption is also creating significant psychological distress. 

More attention needs to be given to the implications of climate change for human development. Developmental scientists - researchers, educators, and practitioners trained in multiple disciplines and concerned with contextual influences on development and wellbeing across the life course and across generations - have much to offer in this effort. 

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Guiding Principles

  • Although the climate crisis may stem from the geophysical process of global warming, individual people and the organizations they comprise must take action to solve the problem. Developmental scientists have a key role to play in supporting such action. As developmental scientists, it is our responsibility to promote the behaviors, values, and attitudes which lead to lower emissions and consumption, greater caring for nature, and a commitment to just and equitable solutions to the climate crisis

  • Climate change poses an extreme threat to healthy human development and wellbeing: a threat that is no longer avoidable. The climate crisis is already contributing to wide-spread human suffering, and the prospects for the (near) future look no better. Yet, here too, developmental scientists can help. Developmental scientists are uniquely equipped to support adaptation, recovery, and resilience in the face of climate disasters.

  • We aim to develop a truly global forum for the free, open, and equal exchange of ideas, resources, and expertise. Perhaps more than any other challenge humanity has ever faced, the climate crisis requires a distributed, collaborative solution. Every person alive today—as well as every potential person yet to be born—is affected by the climate crisis. Hence, every person deserves the opportunity to voice their unique experience and contribute to the solution. This statement takes on extra weight when we consider the disproportionate impact of climate change on the Global South.

    Although they experience the worst effects of the climate crisis (and will continue to do so), citizens of the Global South have been largely excluded from the conversation surrounding solutions to climate change (e.g., due to a lack of funding or poor integration with Eurocentric professional networks). By facilitating peer-to-peer collaboration and resource-sharing among DevSCA members, we aim to facilitate truly global collaborations wherein anyone has an equal chance to initiate their own project or contribute their skills and expertise to an existing project.

  • We view open science—including open education, open access publishing, and open-source software—as a critical component of our approach. To accomplish DevSCA's mission, we must have free, open, equal, and global collaboration. Yet, this level of collaboration is not possible under traditional proprietary models of intellectual property and knowledge dissemination. Hence, we undergird the foundations of our organization with the philosophical reinforcing bars of open science principles. In so doing, we aim to both facilitate true, global collaboration, and to ensure that the fruits of that collaboration are always freely available to the global community.

Objectives

  • Engage in sustained advocacy for climate action informed by developmental science

    Partner with other scientific, professional, social justice, environmental, and health organizations to bring a developmental science perspective to climate advocacy

  • Advance research on climate change and human development by creating, supporting and mobilizing networks of researchers across the globe

    Promote engagement of developmental scientists on climate change issues with other disciplines, policymakers, practitioners, and community members across the globe

  • Serve as a forum for discussion and collaboration amongst developmental scientists interested in addressing the impact of climate change on human development

    Connect with other disciplines and organizations to create a network of researchers and practitioners addressing the impact of climate change on human development

  • Serve as a channel of information to developmental scientists about the implications of climate change for human development and how they can contribute to protecting human development in the context of climate change 

    Translate developmental science research on climate change into materials that are useful for policy, practice and community audiences

  • Incorporate coverage of climate change in education of developmental scientists at all levels

    Promote coverage of the relevance of climate change to human development in the education of professionals and the public

  • Build developmental scientists’ capacities to support people and communities in mitigating and adapting to climate change

    Encourage partnerships and collaboration between developmental scientists and other practitioners (including NGOs) who address the impact of climate change on human development

  • Encourage investment in developmental science research and training related to the impact of climate change on human development, such as via dedicated calls for proposals

    Encourage investment in cross-sector, collaborative research and training related to the impact of climate change on human development 

  • Encourage developmental science organizations to give serious attention to the climate crisis in their own planning and activities

    Engage with other organizations and the public to improve sustainability practices