Sophie L. Van Neste is an associate professor in urban studies at INRS (Tiohtià:ke/Montreal), holder of a Canada research chair in urban climate action. Her research focuses on social movements in urban environmental politics and participatory action research for justice in climate adaptation. 

In this episode, we sit with Sophie and discuss the politics of climate adaptation, or how urban landscapes are changing as a result of a warming planet. Key topics include planning/organizing around extreme heat in Lachine, Montreal; the role of historical uneven development in present day climate adaptation; and “climate justice” as a framework for coalition building. Hope you enjoy it!

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Some papers by Sophie: 

Place, pipelines and political subjectivities in invisibilized urban peripheries

Forthcoming, discussed in this episode: Extreme heat and uneven urban development : missing politics in climate adaptation. Van Neste SL, D’Amours, AM, Poulin E. 2024.

Some valuable resources mentioned by Sophie: 

⁠Just Climate Adaptation In Cities: Reflections For An Interdisciplinary Research Agenda⁠ by Vanessa Castán Broto

Check out the website of the living lab on climate adaptation to which Sophie belongs:https://laboclimatmtl.inrs.ca/ 

Sophie asks you to keep an eye out for a collaborative book coming up co-written with municipal and community actors. 

Sophie speaks to the legacies of uneven development also in this blog interview with the group Heritage Montreal and the McCord Museum; you can see there a few images of the site: https://blog.heritagemontreal.org/patrimoine-et-transition-ecologique-perspectives-urbaines-et-memorielles-avec-sophie-van-neste/ 

NOTE: it’s in French.