Master Thesis Defense by Emma Karin Lyeteg Lund

Title: Embodying Systems Thinking: An in-depth investigation into five climate change-professionals’ experience of Alexander Technique

Abstract:

This paper introduces Climate Change (CC) as a systemic issue that calls for a systemic approach.The project is a qualitative, exploratory study that aims to investigate, in a practical setting, if Alexander Technique (AT) can induce an embodied understanding of Systems Thinking (ST) for CC-professionals (defined as people working with climate related issues and/or sustainability on a daily basis). This was done by giving five climate CC-professionals five lessons of AT each during the five weeks of September 2020, and analyzing their subjective experiences and insights through a ST lens. The empirical data was collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Furthermore, all lessons were filmed.

The analyzes showed that the five lessons in AT furthered the participants understanding of ST. The participants insights from the project were both drawn from and strengthened by the participants bodily experiences. Furthermore, the participants readiness to implement their insights to their work correlated with: 1. If they addressed their skepticism in the open during the lessons or not and 2. If deviating from what the participants perceived to be other people’s (and colleagues) norms was a point of concern or not. The one participant that addressed his skepticism in the open, and who did not perceive other ‘people’s norms’ as a point of concern was more prone to transfer his insights to a work-related setting.

The results of this study indicate that lessons in AT as an EL approach can in fact induce a deepened understanding of ST. The results can further be seen to nuance the widely accepted view of skepticism as such representing a barrier towards adopting pro-environmental behavior, and points towards the importance of norms, acceptance and community support when it comes to behavior-change. Further research is needed to fully establish the above.

Supervisors: Lise Tjørring and Anders Svensson