How to Provide Safe (Enough) Spaces for Transformative Learning to Support Courageous and Decolonial Practices towards Climate Justice

To better understand complex and challenging transformative learning (TL) processes in the context of climate (in)justice, we introduce a decolonial perspective, through the understanding of TL as a process of decolonization, and build on a model of typical phases in TL for sustainability. We argue that it is firstly necessary to analyze the conditions, context, and prerequisites with which learners approach the topic of climate justice. Secondly, it is crucial to examine how the learning objects are taken up by the learners and which specific challenging emotions can occur. Here we plead for safe enough spaces, which are learning environments that encourage learners to constructively address their challenging emotions with the prioritized intent to restore a sense of justice through shared accountability within the community. Thirdly, after successfully mastering emotional troubles, they can engage in courageous practices developed collaboratively and fortified as collective practices in the community of learners. We conclude our thoughts with several questions about the composition of different learning groups and the normativity of TL in the context of climate justice and more generally, sustainability.