From risk calculations to narratives of danger

The purpose of this perspective article is to provide a broader viewpoint on the contents of this special issue on ‘narratives of change’ and the role of narratives not only for climate risk governance, but also for the science-society nexus at the global and local scales. Narratives of change are ambiguous; they can be narratives of risk (the technoscientific version of danger) or they can be narratives of adaptation (contributing to increase agency enhancing capacities). One common insight across the special issue relates to the multiple dimensions of change, danger and risk, implying that reductive definitions alone are often insufficient to describe and explain current political and governance processes. Complex accounts of change must help understand the many-faceted phenomenon of climate change, which will be crucial in thinking about how to meet and limit future impacts, how to envisage a future sustainable society, and how to deploy inclusive, diverse and democratic trans-disciplinary science.