The empirical part of my research for the
BASE project brings me to all sorts of people and all sorts of places. Some are
based in Exeter, some take a train or bus ride to a place somewhere in the
Southwest, usually reasonably nearby, and some even come down from their place
to the university for the interview. Every time I’m on my way to an interview,
I’m curious how it will be. You never quite know how it will turn out. How the
person will be like, how the story or viewpoint will be, which information you
will get. Whether the interviewee will be comfortable sharing his/her stance
and speaking about issues encountered, or whether the interviewee will be sometimes
hesitant or maybe even wary. Luckily for me as a researcher, most people in the
Southwest are relatively easy speakers, and not unaccustomed to researchers coming
over to hear them out J It is always striking to hear different answers to the same
question. And as interviews represent different groups and interests, and have
their own experiences, you may also come across sensitivities which you have to
deal with in the interview. It also interesting to see what the interviewee may
say, add or reveal once you’ve switched off the recorder.
For the Dartmoor case study (about
ecosystem services and climate change adaptation in Dartmoor National Park),
I’ve done 7 interviews so far, and hope to do 3 more in September. For the
Dawlish case study (about adaptation around the railway line which runs
straight along the shore), I’ve done 4 interviews, and hope to do 6 more after
the Summer. Through the interviews, the picture of the situation is more and
more unfolding, and starts to get more depth and details. Most of the questions
are set around understanding what influences the policy and decisionmaking
process to adaptation, who the key actors are and why, and what barriers and
enablers are to adapt to climate change. Possible barriers and enablers may
include a lack of clear responsabilities, lack of political priority and lack
of knowledge (e.g. on risks and costs and benefits). The data from these
interviews will be compared to data from documentation on these two case
studies, and perhaps with data coming from a focus group. Included below some pictures,
recently taken on Dartmoor near Princetown (15 June 2014) and at the Dawlish coast (6 July 2014).
