NNOCCI is a network of individuals and organizations in informal education, the social sciences, and climate sciences. We are currently working in 184 institutions in 38 states. We share a commitment to using evidenced-based communications methods and providing the social and emotional support needed to engage as climate communicators. By working together we develop the knowledge, techniques, community and confidence needed to empower our audiences. And by speaking about climate change consistently across the country we are changing public discourse to be positive, civic-minded and solutions-focused.
NNOCCI colleagues continue to experiment, evaluate and share successes from their work with each other. We learn about the latest findings in climate science and oceanography and how to apply these to our own interpretive contexts at our institutions. In addition we build trust and lasting bonds among colleagues across the country who share an interest in developing effective ways to engage audiences in learning about climate and ocean change.
Learn more about our impact in this short video: https://vimeo.com/220672114
Network Reach:
What does NNOCCI have to offer for visitors to climateinterpreter.org?
NNOCCI offers resources and training to help others strengthen their voices and to increase our collective impact in promoting climate action. Please see the descriptions of our training opportunities in the training tab, use the calendar to locate current trainings in your area, and the links to our introductory resources at the bottom of this page to learn more about our research and our recommendations.
NNOCCI Leadership
NNOCCI is lead by a governing structure with an elected Board of Directors and volunteers serving on committees and teams. The Governing Council is responsible for planning and executing NNOCCI’s strategic direction and priorities, making network-wide decisions and policies on behalf of all network members, and serving as NNOCCI ambassadors to broader constituencies. They are guided by our goals to sustain, deepen and expand the network.
National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) Overview
Brief overview of the NNOCCI Network
National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) Recommendations
Recommendations from NNOCCI on how to make your climate change communications clearer and more effective
Free Online Course: Changing the Conversation on Climate and Ocean Change
The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation is delighted to announce a new online course in effective climate interpretation: Changing the Conversation on Climate and Ocean Change. The course offers an engaging, guided tour of rigorous communications research recently conducted by the FrameWorks Institute on behalf of NNOCCI with support from the National Science Foundation.
With a virtual learning journey hosted by Lindsay Jordan of the New England Aquarium, and a ton of downloadable resources that informal educators can use to lead discussions or trainings with colleagues and volunteers, Changing the Conversation is an incredibly rich resource for taking framing back to your institution. The course is hosted in the FrameWorks Institute’s new online learning platform, FrameWorks Academy.
To access this course – free of charge - visit http://frameworksacademy.org/products/changing-the-conversation-on-ocean-and-climate-change Place the course in your shopping cart (no need to pay unless you decide to purchase any of the other course materials). Once you have checked out, you will receive an email from FrameWorks Academy with instructions for accessing your course materials.
Please share this information with your professional networks. The approach to environmental communication explored in this course has the potential to shift our national discourse on climate change to be more productive, hopeful, and solution-oriented.
This free e-workshop, developed by the FrameWorks Institute in partnership with the New England Aquarium, gives an introductory look at how interpreters can utilize Strategic Framing to more effectively communicate the ocean and climate change story with the public.
To access this course – free of charge:
- Visit Frameworks Academy
- Go to 'Specialized Sponsored Courses' and select 'Framing for Climate Interpreters'
- Place the course in your shopping cart (no need to pay unless you decide to purchase any of the other course materials)
- ‘Check out’ and enter your information (no need for a code)
- Once you have checked out, you will receive an email from FrameWorks Academy with instructions for accessing your course materials.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Frameworks research report on using metaphorical and causal explanation to increase public understanding of climate and ocean change
The Value of Explanation
Attached is a Frameworks Institute social science research report on using values and causal explanations as communications tools to reframe climate and ocean change. These concepts are part of the foundation for the style of communication used by the National Network for Ocean & Climate Change Interpretation.
A summary from the introduction section of the report:
"Though research has shown that Americans have a basic understanding that climate change has negative impacts, they lack a fundamental understanding of the science of climate change and its impacts, especially on marine life and ocean systems. The challenge for climate change communicators, then, is not to convince Americans that climate change has negative repercussions, but to give them the ability to productively engage with solutions that address the issue at an appropriate scale.
"The research presented in this report was conducted on behalf of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), and supported by the National Science Foundation.1 NNOCCI represents a collaborative effort between the New England Aquarium, the FrameWorks Institute, the Association for Zoos and Aquariums, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the New Knowledge Organization to transform the public understanding of climate change and its impacts on oceans via institutions of informal science education.
"This report presents the results of research designed to test the effects of various strategies for communicating about climate and ocean change. SpeciNically, we discuss the effects of value frames on people’s attitudes and opinions towards climate and ocean change, and on their support for the policy solutions recommended by experts from these Nields. We also examine how different ways of providing information on climate and ocean change interact with these value frames, further affecting public knowledge, attitudes and policy support."
Visualizing Change: Multimedia Data Interpretation Tools
New climate interpretation tools available for Science on a Sphere® and more.
What if informal science educators could treat scientific data like an illustration in a great picture book—a visual that brings the story to life and even helps move it along? The Visualizing Change project has taken on this challenge, working with data scientists, social scientists, and science educators to craft and test tools for telling more effective stories about climate change and its impacts on the ocean. A new toolkit offers a wealth of resources for interpreting timely climate topics such as extreme weather, ocean acidification, and more – with images and scripts designed to work with a variety of digital display technologies, such as Science on a Sphere®, other spherical displays, flat screens, or hand held tablets. These tools are available to informal science institutions at no cost, thanks to a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
More than ever before, informal science learning institutions are finding ways to live to their conservation missions by helping the public understand the causes, consequences, and appropriate responses to climate change. Yet, the latest scientific data are often only available in dense or complex formats, which makes it difficult for interpreters to bring them into their conversations with visitors. What if science educators could treat data like an illustration in a great picture book—a visual that brings the story to life and even helps move it along?
The Visualizing Change project has done just that. A set of partners – including ocean scientists, informal science educators, data scientists, and social scientists – has developed “visual narratives” that are highly effective with visitors. To create these narratives, Visualizing Change selected four climate-related issues - the climate-ocean connection, extreme weather, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise - and worked with data specialists at NOAA to find the right kind of data to help explain these issues. The resulting interpretive tools (including scripts, image sequences, and more) are designed to work with a variety of digital display technologies, such as Science on a Sphere®, other spherical displays, flat screens, or hand held tablets. And, because the narratives are also informed by rigorous research into how to explain these issues most effectively, they are also designed to work with your visitors.
A complete toolkit of these tested narratives is now available for informal science education institutions to access and use at no cost, thanks to a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This multimedia toolkit includes the scripts and images that make up the narratives, as well as background resources to help science educators use them with confidence.
If you are looking for reliable, effective, and innovative ways to translate climate science for the public, we hope these tools will be of use. We also hope you will help us bring them to the attention of others who could use them. To make it easy to spread the word, we’ve provided a blurb appropriate for your website, newsletter, or list-serv.
The stories we tell in our institutions matter. They can create a more informed public that knows what’s needed to safeguard and protect our environment. We hope you’ll join us in telling stories that help Americans visualize change.
Sincerely,
Visualizing Change Team
(Aquarium of the Pacific, Buttonwood Park Zoo, Exploratorium, National Aquarium, New England Aquarium, Seattle Aquarium, FrameWorks Institute and New Knowledge Organization)