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Language, history and climate action: unpacking climate adaptation across Gaelic and English

Looking over a seated person's shoulder to a piece of paper on their lap which reads "Climate Hebrides"

​​​In October 2024 Argyll and Bute Climate Action Network (ABCAN) and the Adaptation Scotland programme launched a Gaelic version of the Community Climate Adaptation Routemap. Iryna Zamuruieva, Senior Climate Resilience Manager at Verture (then Sniffer), has talked to ABCAN’s lead Jamie Joyce and translator Ross Christie about why language can’t be separated from culture; the challenges of working on climate issues across Gaelic and English and what culturally appropriate climate action can look like.

Two people standing outside holding a printed booklet. One wears a blue jacket, the other a green. being them are buildings, plants, and a body of water.

ABCAN staff Jamie Joyce and Kate Shaw launching the Community Climate Adaptation Routemap in Gaelic at Mòd an Òbain, October 2024.

IZ: Can you tell us more about the Argyll and Bute Climate Action Network (ABCAN) and how did the idea of translating the Routemap into Gaelic come about?

JJ: Sure, ABCAN is one of the Community Climate Action Hubs, funded by the Scottish Government. Most local authorities now in Scotland have a climate hub. We’re here very much to respond to community needs regarding climate change, whether that’s supporting action on net zero, adaptation or resilience. We’re community-led and we now have officers in all four administrative regions of Argyll and Bute.

As for the Routemap translation, Ross reached out on behalf of the Mòd committee, and we had a few conversations about how best ABCAN could look to support the Mòd in Oban [an annual celebration of Gaelic language].

Another factor was, having attended the Gaelic Climate Change Convention that the Outer Hebrides Climate Hub organised in 2023, we saw there was a big need for material to be available in Gaelic language. At the event there was a sense that the terminology wasn’t there to engage positively and meaningfully with climate change issues.

ABCAN has an engagement fund – through this we’ve completed climate resilience training with Sniffer. The Community Climate Adaptation Routemap was highlighted in the training, so it seemed like a low hanging fruit to get that translation put in place. Through all these factors ABCAN had a role to play in this, but none of it would really have happened without Ross reaching out.

IZ: Ross, the Mòd is a well-known celebration of Gaelic language, culture and heritage. Why did you decide to feature climate change in this years’ programme?

RC: Following the convention in South Uist which Jamie just mentioned, we also saw the fact that the Gaelic and the arts have gone hand in hand, particularly the past 30-40 years Celtic music revival going international – in that sector Gaelic has absolutely soared. But a lot of research on language acquisition for revitalisation shows that you need to have your own agency without having to have a talent or a reason for learning the language. For example, someone doesn’t grow up learning Arabic because they want to go to become a TV star, but they do it because that’s who they are.

When planning the Mòd last year, we wanted to branch out beyond the arts. In recent years, we’ve seen Gaelic team sports and individual adventure sports coming around. But to ensure that Gaelic remains relevant – which I think it certainly is today – it needs to also engage with contemporary topics, like climate change. It doesn’t just mean reporting on them through our Gaelic media, it means Gaelic deserves – and should be able – to engage with every aspect of modern life. And that’s an active process. It doesn’t just happen with the language getting better and better, you have to actively seek that out when the language is minoritised. A big motivation for us was also to support Gaelic communities both locally and nationally.

IZ: Ross, what was your experience translating the Routemap?

RC: It was challenging, as all translation is. Compared to poetry or prose, though, it was a walk in the park because scientific literature, or a practical document like the Routemap, is less open to interpretation. That said, it requires correct vocabulary for whatever scientifically rooted phenomenon you’re trying to describe. On top of that you have to make it engaging and easy to understand.

For example, translating “adaptation” was tricky. Quite often Gaelic is long winded – it’s easier to describe the concept of adaptation in five, six or seven words. “Ag atharrachadh chleachdaidhean gus freagairt air Atharrachadh na Gnàth-shìde” (Lit. changing customs/practices in response to Climate Change) or “A’ gnàthachadh ri Èiginn na Gnàth-shìde” (lit. becoming used to the Climate Emergency). And that’s kind of what we ended up doing a couple of times. But in reality, that concept isn’t that easy to grasp.

It’d be interesting to see whether the word that we did end up choosing for adaptation gets adopted. And if it does or if it doesn’t, that’s OK because it is an iterative process. It’s all very early. Even in English, climate adaptation as a concept was brand new to me before I’d seen this document. Trying to then bring it into a language and the community that has not really been accounted for in this terminology so far, that’s an even bigger challenge.

This is hopefully the first of many iterations… in English, Gaelic terminology will adapt as we learn what works best.

IZ: Did you have to look up terms in English, or is there climate change research in Gaelic you could use?

RC: That’s where we struggled. A lot of the high academic vocabulary that we have in Gaelic comes from the social sciences, because inherently it’s been relating to language and people and the humanities, so there’s very little written on climate change, which is mainly a topic of natural sciences. So that’s where a lot of the conversations in South Uist last year came from –we do need to have a little bit of a basis. From that a basic glossary emerged, though it’s not definitive—it’s evolving. I relied on that, but only a couple of times for terminology that I really want to get right. For example, adaptation. With that being so core, there was a group that essentially decided, yeah, OK, this word will work for now.

Even though, and I will openly say, reading the title of the Routemap, it isn’t immediately apparent what exactly adaptation is. But the same in English! You have to go into it and become familiar with the concept. I also spoke to peers, just as you would do for any sort of translation. But the point with the Routemap is to give you direct action – it’s for the lowest common denominator, so that everyone can get involved, so I didn’t struggle too much with high science terms.

IZ: Since we’re getting into words now, let’s delve into how you approached translating “adaptation.” Could you walk us through your choices?

RC: The first time I went through the Routemap, I didn’t realise “adaptation” was central to the document. So at first I thought ‘right, this this will do, just basic word about climate change’, but then it has become more and more apparent that no, this is specifically about adaptation, I can no longer avoid finding a word for that. I used freagarrachadh in the title. This word is given in the dictionary but it’s not really in common parlance as far as I can understand, and so those are the kind of words that you might tend to avoid when translating as they might be taken to be too literal. However, as you would read through the Routemap, in context you would understand it as adaptation. It’s been put out there acknowledging that it’s not in common usage, but I think in the same way that “climate adaptation” is probably not in people’s everyday conversations in English either. It definitely was a challenge and we’ll see if it will be picked up for the next few years or something better will come along.

IZ: And what about translating “community”? Was that easier or different?

RC: That was very straightforward. That’s the world of Gaelic’s favourite word – coimhearsnachd. We’re rural communities sometimes, we’re often language communities within urban centres, but the Gaelic world absolutely loves the word community to the point it’s almost lost meaning. But here specifically, it was good.

However, the challenge came with “neighbourhood,” which feels like an Americanism that made it into British English. In Glasgow or big cities, for example, you don’t describe anything as a “neighbourhood”. I ended up using coimhearsnachd here as well, because essentially, it’s the people you are hanging about with quite a lot. But of course, there could be an argument for differentiating between neighbourhood and community.

IZ: This reminds me how the term “locality” is often used to describe areas smaller than towns or villages, but it doesn’t always align with how people see their own spaces.

RC: That’s the thing, in this modern world minority communities are spread around the world. But when you’re thinking about climate change and the specific impacts to a specific geographical area, it’s nice to be able to use words that capture those specific places. We do have terms like sgìre (area/district) or siorrachd (parish) but there’s no exact word for “locality,” which I reckon comes with Anglo-Saxon bureaucracy of chopping up pieces of land although that’s purely conjecture… Using coimhearsnachd (community) for both fluid groups and physical locations felt strange but worked as a practical solution.

IZ: Jamie, you launched the Gaelic translation of the Routemap at the Mòd in Oban this October. How did it go, and have you had any responses yet?

JJ: It went really well, especially with you, Iryna, and Aoife, the Routemap creators [from the Adaptation Scotland programme], joining us – it added a lot of weight to what we were doing on the day. Kate and I engaged directly, handing out documents despite language barriers, which sparked meaningful dialogue. A standout moment was seeing someone from the University of Highlands and Islands share the document with another Gaelic speaker, engaging in a discussion, which is exactly the goal: bridging the English-Gaelic gap.

The Scottish Government has shown interest in how Gaelic translation of the Routemap will be used by communities. Using Savannah Vize’s original design work helped make the Gaelic version visually engaging and accessible, avoiding an overly academic tone. This has made it easier to promote conversations about climate resilience and community issues in Gaelic at events.

ABCAN staff now have printed Gaelic and English versions to distribute, encouraging discussions on climate change in Gaelic. Interestingly, a conversation with BBC Alba’s Andreas Wolf about the Routemap – and actually not being able to speak to him in Gaelic – prompted me to look up Gaelic courses, so the process is fostering engagement both ways.

Some of the contents of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan have also been translated into Gaelic – an easy read version and an illustrated children’s version, reflecting growing awareness of the need for such resources. It’s been rewarding to contribute to this alongside the Mòd Committee.

IZ: What’s the significance of having these sorts of publications translated into Gaelic?

RC: It may seem counterintuitive – and I hope it’s not disappointing to you! – but even fluent Gaelic speakers would often choose majority-language documents for policy and governance topics, simply because that’s what we’re used to dealing with. When you phone up HMRC, it’s English you use. While in Wales this is slowly changing, the symbolic value of providing Gaelic materials is significant. It shows you haven’t been forgotten, you’re included, and resources are available if you need them. No one should be under any pretence that translated into Gaelic materials will reach a group of people that weren’t previously reached like the wave of a magic wand, but what it’s doing is it’s signifying to them: you are important in this conversation and we want to provide something for you as well.

And there will be people that would never read this sort of publication in English because they might think ‘climate adaptation, that’s not for me, whatever, that’s boring’ but then they see it in Gaelic and might go ‘oh, right, this is quite interesting, it relates to me and my experience, I’ll read that’.

The status boost from offering these important documents in Gaelic is a really important thing. Similarly, ahead of the Mòd, we encouraged shops to display signage such as fàilte. It’s a small gesture, but it suggests “hey, we’re welcoming you, come along”, and symbolises effort and inclusion. It’s a small effort, and a really good nod in the right direction.

IZ: Does the Scottish Government have to translate every official document to Gaelic?

RC: Not every document, but if you request something in Gaelic, I think it must be provided. The government in Scotland is – I think – working towards making all government services available in Gaelic, though we’re a long way away from that. My personal concern is that, in 25 years time when we finally have everything translated into Gaelic, are there going to be any Gaelic speakers to actually use it? Not too sure.

It’s nice to see things like this publication, that are inherently not related to Gaelic or the arts, for example. Gaelic has excelled in the creative and performing arts, so documents from Creative Scotland are often given in Gaelic, which is brilliant. But seeing something that’s entirely unrelated makes you think “we exist and we’re worthy of reading things that seem totally irrelevant to the language as a cultural product, and rather treats it as an equal communicative partner in a modern nation”. Which is why it’s nice when you see a really boring – and I don’t mean the Routemap! – document from the Parliament for example, translated into Gaelic, you’re like, “oh, it’s quite interesting”.

IZ: Do you think some Gaelic concepts have influenced English, especially in discussions about climate change and Scotland’s places?

RC: Terms like dùthchas are being discussed, especially in land management, but I don’t know much about widespread adoption of traditional practices. Gaelic culture is often seen as one of custodianship, with a relationship to the land, not ownership, which is common in many indigenous cultures.

What is really interesting to me is the work of Dr Alasdair C. Whyte, who’s researching old place names and folklore in relation to marine environments. For example, place names like, “The Place of the Oysters”, just as a random example, could give folk that are doing marine rewilding, or habitat restoration, pointers as to where to start. It lets us see what was there previously and what we can work back to. The idea that we can look back to our indigenous cultures for that kind of direction is quite cool.

Some other researchers are looking at the traditional practices around seaweed and how some of the uses we’ve maybe lost. Well…they have been lost to English, but they’re still preserved in Gaelic traditions in writing and archives – using seaweed as fertiliser or other purposes. It seems like seaweed does absolutely everything according to a lot of people! I don’t want to be cheesy calling it indigenous knowledge because it’s different. It’s knowledge in a different language that we’ve completely just decided to leave to one side. It is not necessarily related to indigenous belief systems, but it’s just knowledge that’s there waiting to be translated by the right person.

IZ: Do place names in Gaelic or English reflect changes in the environment?

RC: When you look at places like Rannoch Moor or even on the Ordnance Survey map you can find a place name that’s called, for example, “The Place of all the Lovely Big Bushy Trees” in Gaelic. That clearly shows you the living evidence in front of us that this is a changed human-made landscape. There’s one that’s very nice off Rannoch Moor down Glen Dochart called Doire nan Taghann, which is the “Copse of the Pine Martens”. There’s no chance you will see pine martens or a copse of trees around here anymore. It demonstrates how far we’ve changed. And this is within recorded living memory. This historical knowledge, if tapped into, can inform rewilding initiatives and reduce the animosity towards rewilding in the first place.

A lot of the time people like Anders Povlsen present their purchase of a big Highland estate as “rewilding”. However, if you get the indigenous population and their knowledge involved, it helps with the inclusion and social cohesion. Historic knowledge rooted in Gaelic place names and culture is a valuable resource that’s largely untapped at the moment. Dundreggan Rewilding centre is a fantastic example of this sort of work.

IZ: What do you think needs to happen to preserve the skills and language of Gaelic and promote it more?

RC: If you want me to answer that in full, we’d be here for nine hours! But one key idea that a lot of people and a lot of scholars are moving towards, is a content-based curriculum that reflects Gaelic culture, rather than just translating the English curriculum into Gaelic, as it is done right now. And the curriculum always goes back to where the policy comes from, whether it’s the national, UK or European level. But if you’re trying to preserve a specific culture, then that needs to be informed by the ideologies and the policies of those people.

It is also a question of the curriculum’s content. In Gaelic medium education, you don’t have much of a different prescribed content as you do in the English language one. For example people in the Western Isles talk about never learning about the Highland Clearances, and we talk about it in the mainland as well. But even out there where it was so rampant, you don’t hear about the land struggles. Having a specific policy that says ‘this indigenous community requires their own curriculum’ is really important, I think. Researchers are moving towards that, but it’s the problem of having everything done at a national level from Edinburgh. The key is to create a curriculum based on a local understanding of the culture, not just using Gaelic as a means of communication, as important as that is, status wise.

A black and white image of loaded wooden wagons on a railway

Middlemuir, Peat Works View of loaded wagons on railway, Collection Papers of Prof John R Hume, Glasgow, Scotland, Archive number SC 507221

IZ: This makes me wonder what a climate change or environmental history curriculum designed with the Gaelic community would look like.

RC: Think about peat, for example. Whenever you see an article about industrial peat harvesting, it always comes with a photo of some guy in the Western Isles with a spade digging up peat for his fire. There is no understanding of the differences between two completely different things: the industrial peat harvesting and the traditional, community-level practices. A curriculum focused on the Gaelic community could emphasise this distinction. We know that peat can sequester carbon, and while harvesting it isn’t ideal, it’s part of the way we’ve historically engaged with the land.

This is how we can change the where the rules and laws are put in Edinburgh, the headline is extrapolated, then suddenly, it’s crofters in the Western Isles that are the problem. It would be about recognizing the complexities of the situation, rather than simplifying it, and challenging the centralization of policy, which is a common issue worldwide.

IZ: How do you imagine working with Gaelic, its history and future, in the upcoming ABCAN activities?

JJ: I’ve made inquiries to better understand Gaelic language, and my main priority right now is to ensure that the next Mòd, which will be in Lochaber, works with what we’ve developed and involves the Highland & Islands Community Climate Action Hub. We can use the progress we’ve made as a stepping stone, and perhaps look into translating additional documentation. The challenge, however, is that the hubs are funded year by year by the Scottish Government, which limits what we can achieve within that short timeframe. But even within those constraints, it’s rewarding to create something small that could inspire further action and help foster long-term change.

IZ: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

RC: I’d never had any engagement whatsoever with climate action to any level apart from being big into going about town on my bike as much as I can. That’s about the extent of it. So it was very nice to read the Routemap. Well, I wouldn’t say it’s a very nice document to read. Obviously it’s quite – not alarming – but it makes things hit home a little bit. It’s useful to see the steps that are being taken.

Find out more about the Community Climate Adaptation Routemap on the Adaptation Scotland programme website.