Changing Climate Histories: Institutionalising Swedish Transnational Climate Knowledge 1950–2000

This project historicises institutions studying climate change during the second half of the twentieth century and their role in reinterpreting and politicising the concept of ‘climate’.

I focus on the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), in particular its national support for Swedish scientists to conduct transnational activities, its establishment of international infrastructures for measuring weather, and in time institutional frameworks for policymaking on and management of climate change.Climate knowledge at present provokes a re-evaluation of national political priorities, and subsequently a reformulation of government authorities’ missions towards mitigating or adapting to climate change.

To understand this process, we need to historicise the institutions producing climate knowledge and how they motivated monitoring and managing climate change.

While SMHI is among the oldest climate institutions, little is known about its importance for the numerous scientists producing knowledge and policies about climate change.My project is based on oral history and transnational history and combines written sources from archives in Sweden and the UK with interviewing a range of practitioners involved in climate knowledge – from technicians to leading researchers and decision-makers.

In 2021, I gather sources and conduct interviews. In 2022, I write up results and conduct supplementary archival visits and interviews. During 2023, I write up and curate results.