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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Angelos Theocharis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
This article examines Community Digital Storytelling (CDST) as a participatory method that supports Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) by amplifying Indigenous and local voices and exposing structural drivers of vulnerability in climate research and practice. Designed by the author and implemented in collaboration with Indigenous communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, CDST draws on oral traditions, Indigenous epistemologies, and creative visual storytelling to co-produce short films that document lived experiences of climate impacts and adaptation. Integrating elements of ethnographic documentary, Indigenous methodologies, and smartphone filmmaking, CDST fosters a reflexive, collaborative space that enables ontological pluralism, intergenerational dialogue, and ethical knowledge exchange, helping to decolonise adaptation research and practice. The article presents empirical insights from CDST initiatives across South and Southeast Asia, outlining the method’s contributions and opportunities for LLA, while also addressing the ethical, logistical, and structural challenges that may constrain its long-term impact. By centring community agency and reorienting adaptation towards social justice, relational accountability, and the sovereignty of local knowledge systems, CDST offers a powerful tool for transformative adaptation and reclaims storytelling as a vital mode of climate action.
Author(s): Theocharis A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environmental Science & Policy
Year: 2026
Volume: 179
Print publication date: 01/05/2026
Online publication date: 27/03/2026
Acceptance date: 11/03/2026
Date deposited: 01/05/2026
ISSN (print): 1462-9011
ISSN (electronic): 1873-6416
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104359
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104359
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