Hope through action

11 February 2026, by Stephanie Janssen

Photo: M. Schnegg

Anthropologist Michael Schnegg conducts research on climate change at the Cluster of Excellence CLICCS and spends several months of every year in a village in Namibia. His findings offer another perspective on nature than the “Western” view. In terms of climate change, this can mean responding to setbacks in unconventional ways – for instance, with hope.

In late January, Michael Schnegg once again flew from Hamburg to the vicinity of Kunene, northern Namibia. His destination: a hut in a village made up of just ten households. He frequently returns there for several weeks at a time, during which he lives in a village community near a water source and together with freely roaming cattle, goats and sheep – and without electricity, running water, or internet access. The nearest small town, with a supermarket, church and local government, is 30 kilometers away; the nearest smaller settlements are more than five kilometers away.

Though Schnegg, as an anthropologist, is there to observe the community, he’s also part of village life. He’s since become fluent in the local dialect – a Khoisan language characterized by click consonants. He is interested, for example, in how rural communities are responding to climate change.

Threatened, but much more hopeful

Namibia is one of the most arid countries in Africa, and water is a critical factor in the village. For several consecutive months, there is no rainfall whatsoever. People have learned how to cope with these hardships. But over the past several years, something has changed: due to anthropogenic climate change, the rainy season has become shorter. “Here, climate change is threatening livelihoods: harvests aren’t as good, grazing areas are drying out, livestock are dying and hunger is on the rise,” says Schnegg. “The situation is serious, but nevertheless, many people react to it with much more hope than in Germany.”

Schnegg’s neighbors are trying out alternatives, adapting, and changing their methods. Setbacks are recognized but not just passively accepted. For them, resignation is not an option. In Schnegg’s experience, in Kunene hope is reflected in action – and is often only kindled through action. Further, he has observed that hope can be contagious: initiatives are copied and, if they prove successful, spread like wildfire to nearby villages, creating a growing atmosphere of hope.

Actively practiced resistance

Schnegg’s colleague Dr. Julian Sommerschuh conducted a similar study in Kenya. In this way, the two Hamburg-based experts were able to show that their findings were no exception. In Kenya, too, those whose livelihoods are jeopardized by climate change were found to be much more hopeful than expected.

This is also relevant for Germany, where the general mood is often described as being dominated by fear. Climate change, war, and economic decline: these fears can have political consequences, driving citizens into the arms of radical movements that promise simple answers.

In Germany, climate change is often perceived in terms of statistics, global forecasts, or as something happening far away. Schnegg and Sommerschuh stress the need to pay closer attention in our day-to-day lives. When we see the signs of climate change on our own doorsteps, in the form of dry soil, sweltering conditions in cities, or water shortages, the problem becomes more “real.”

This can provide a motivation to get involved and make changes – in our own communities, initiatives or projects. Those who do so not only achieve concrete improvements; they also produce a more hopeful atmosphere. According to Schnegg: “Through action, hope can become a concrete practice. Not as a consolation, but as actively practiced resistance to hopelessness.” And at some point, the urgently needed broader social transformations become conceivable, too.