Assembling the climate story: use of storyline approaches in climate‐related science

Abstract

Storylines are introduced in climate science to provide unity of discourse, integrate the physical and socioeconomic components of phenomena, and make climate evolution more tangible. The use of this concept by multiple scholar communities and the novelty of some of its applications renders the concept ambiguous nonetheless, because the term hides behind a wide range of purposes, understandings, and methodologies. This semi-systematic literature review identifies three approaches that use storylines as a keystone concept: scenarios-familiar for their use in IPCC reports-discourseanalytical approaches, and physical climate storylines. After screening peer-reviewed articles that mention climate and storylines, 270 articles are selected, with 158, 55, and 57 in each category. The results indicate that each scholarly community works with a finite and different set of methods and diverging understandings. Moreover, these approaches have received criticism in their assembly of storylines: either for lacking explicitness or for the homogeneity of expertise involved. This article proposes that cross-pollination among the approaches can improve the usefulness and usability of climate-related storylines. Among good practices are the involvement of a broader range of scientific disciplines and expertise, use of mixed-methods, assessment of storylines against a wider set of quality criteria, and targeted stakeholder participation in key stages of the process.

Varieties of approaches to constructing physical climate storylines: A review

“…We have further identified areas of improvement in the future development of the PCS approach: the way it incorporates the narrative element in different contexts; the way it incorporates value judgments; and finally the way that the evidence chosen to build PCS constrains what is considered plausible. Along with the suggestions of Baulenas et al (2023) to further promote the interaction across different communities using storyline concepts in climate-related research, these areas will help mature the PCS approach.…”

“…Narratives also help identify adaptation pathways in complex human-environmental systems (da Cunha et al, 2020). More recently, Baulenas et al (2023) have explored the use of the storyline concept in climate-related research and have found that PCS is one approach alongside at least two others: discourse analytical approaches, which focus on building narratives that "share meaning [of research objects] among actors, associated practices, and the underlying discourses in relation to climate change, science, and policy" (Baulenas et al, 2023, p. 6), and scenario analysis-which is defined as above. Their analysis suggests that cross-pollination of these approaches can be fruitful.…”

Co-Producing Qualitative Storylines for Resilient Renewable Energy Scenarios Amid Climate Uncertainty

“…According to the authors, co-production is understood as an "iterative, interactive and collaborative process that brings together a plurality of knowledge sources to mutually define problems and develop usable products to address these problems" (p. 2). The products in this case are the storylines from which the scenario modeling will later on depart (Baulenas et al 2023b). As the interlinkage between climate, energy and society requires considering a diverse range of expertise and perspectives, the preparatory steps before the actual workshop were also a key element of the process.…”

“…Similarly, as the case study was Spain, revising the gray literature from the country helped understand better the context and existing narratives. The gray literature also helped with stakeholder mapping, conducted following the guidelines from Baulenas et al (2023a). The main stakeholder categories were set in the following groups: governmental bodies, resource managers, data-related stakeholders, NGOs, private sector, academia, networks or umbrella organizations, media, and disseminators.…”

“…Studies have shown how the decarbonization discourse may lead to a narrow envisaging of possible policy solutions (Bressand and Ekins 2021), and the use of co-produced storylines with stakeholders from different perspectives and representing several narratives can imply an effort in opening up the range of alternatives for national energy transitions (Sgouridis et al 2022;Baulenas et al 2023b). In the field of renewables, and given their important role in the energy transition (Sovacool 2014), co-production should be seen as a sine qua non step.…”