How do social relationships, amongst other diverse factors, shape community change initiatives in the context of climate change?

Guiding deliberate change in the context of climate change is a complex social process, shaped by multiple social factors over time, involving different actors, preferences and perspectives. One factor widely recognised as important is social relationships. However, understandings about how to navigate and work through social relationships to shape collective change processes are currently limited. This thesis examines how social relationships, amongst diverse other factors, shapes community change in the context of climate change. Through a series of stand-alone chapters drawing on a range of qualitative methods, overall four key insights are provided on how social relationships interact with community change initiatives in the context of climate change. These are: (1) quality of relationships; (2) multiple intersecting normative factors; (3) how particular ideas and initiatives are interpreted; and (4) the intentions guiding collective change processes as a whole.
This shows that social relationships are much more than structural patterns of connections between actors. They entail qualitatively different interactive opportunity spaces shaped by multiple social identities and social norms. These factors not only guide why and how relationships develop but also how relationships shape interpretations and any actions that unfold. Social relationships are clearly important within community initiatives. Yet, they do not emerge through a static dynamic and their nature shifts over time, resulting also in changes in the way they influence how actors interpret and engage with different situations and initiatives, and then what emerges through and from these complex social processes. Actors seeking to strategically work through relationships will need nuanced understandings of what social relationships entail and which recognise the multiple different normative dimensions involved in shaping how they develop. This nuance is critical for working with complex social processes more widely and for shaping opportunities for the emergence of meaningful change over time.