3 - Doing climate change adapation with extractive industry? The transdisciplinary moments in farmers' agrometeorological learning in Indramayu, West Java

Presentation Abstract
This paper is a critical examination of how the Science Field Shops (SFSs) cooperate with the extractive industry to facilitate farmers' agrometeorological learning so that they can better adapt to climate change. Based on an inter- and transdisciplinary approach, the SFSs were introduced in Indramayu Regency, West Java, in 2009. For the first time, in mid-2023, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the state-owned (BUMN) Indramayu coal power plant (PLTU), agreed to support the replication of the SFSs on the north-western coast of Indramayu. This cooperation provides an interesting case of incorporating other agents in building up the societal transformation where farmers are expected to cope better with the risks of climate change. We ask: how could the SFSs develop transdisciplinary collaboration with the extractive industry and their farmer beneficiaries? We focus on “transdisciplinary moments” to highlight moments of tension and responses of diverse agents on the shifting positionalities and the embodied experiences. Examining these moments is significant to understanding the knowledge politics present in dialogic communication of the agrometeorological learning in the SFSs. The paper examines transdisciplinary moments: 1) between scientists—assisted by the SFSs Indramayu farmer-facilitators—with the farmers whose fields are adjacent to the power plant; and 2) between scientists and the CSR staff who provide support for farmers as their existing beneficiaries. What lessons-learned on climate change adaption have we gained from such collaboration in sustaining the SFSs’ educational missions and people-centred approaches while recognising the call for the phasing out of fossil fuel?

Co-Author 1
Yunita T. Winarto, Warung Ilmiah Lapangan (The Science Field Shops), Universitas Indonesia