In late January, ahead of the anticipated release of a new IPCC report later this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new handbook for their scientific authors on how to more effectively engage the public and communicate about climate change issues.
The National Network for Ocean & Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) has some exciting news for climate change communicators! Those of you who have received training in Strategic Framing® techniques through the network may recall collecting pre- and post- training surveys from your audiences regarding the success of your climate change communications with the public. These surveys allowed NNOCCI and evaluation partners at Penn State and New Knowledge to do a large-scale study that has recently been published in the prestigious, widely circulated Science Communication journal...
Last week, the world’s leading voices on climate change gathered in Bonn, Germany for the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). By sharing stories of the power wielded collectively by local communities at this year’s United Nations COP23 gathering, we can help inspire our audiences to civic action...
This is the seventh and final post in a series about framing climate and ocean change.
When environmental advocates talk about problems, they sometimes leave out one of the most important parts of the discussion: solutions.
Today I turn 37 years old. This seems like an impossible number.
In my mind, I am a vibrant 21-year-old eager to make the world a better place. I see opportunities to make a positive difference everywhere. I am young, I am empowered, and I am unstoppable.
In reality, things might not always seem so rosy and, truthfully, some days I struggle with being overwhelmed. So how do I achieve—and maintain—this mental state?
I find my strength and my hope in my community.
This is the sixth post in a series about framing ocean and climate change.
So, you want to motivate the public to take action to address climate and ocean change? One of the most important communications moves you can make is to open with a broad statement about why this issue matters to society. In short, lead with a value.
This is the fifth post in a series about framing ocean and climate change.
Our ability to communicate the science of climate change to the public is as important as ever. The outcome of the recent presidential and congressional elections and the state of public discourse around the environment reflect and reinforce misunderstanding and skepticism of climate change. Polls show that Americans are unsure of its causes and consequences, and many don’t trust scientific information about it. Our work, in short, is cut out for us.
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?
This is the fourth post in a series about framing ocean and climate change.
We depend on our oceans and must protect them, yet they are often overlooked in public conversations about “climate change.” As a result, most people don’t understand how ocean change affects the climate (and vice versa)—or how these changes affect our planetary and public health. What’s more, they don’t understand the major causes of ocean change and are unaware of major threats to ocean health like acidification and temperature rise.
Our global community is confronting a significant opportunity to change. We understand that protecting what matters to our families: our health and security, special places we care about, and living creatures with whom we share this planet (people and non-human species alike) depends on our collective efforts. Specifically, we need to change our systems that rely on burning fuels.