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Reflections on Climate Change Communication Research ..., Exercises of Communication

The paper reflects on the crucial need to improve the interaction between climate communication research and practice, and calls for dedicated science-practice ...

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Download Reflections on Climate Change Communication Research ... and more Exercises Communication in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Reflections on Climate Change Communication Research and Practice in the Second Decade of the 21st Century: What More Is There to Say? Susanne C. Moser, Susanne Moser Research & Consulting, Santa Cruz, CA and Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA; email: promundi [at] susannemoser.com The author has declared no conflicts of interest for this article Abstract Appreciable advances have been made in recent years in raising climate change awareness and enhancing support for climate and energy policies. There also has been considerable progress in understanding of how to effectively communicate climate change. This progress raises questions about the future directions of communication research and practice. What more is there to say? Through a selective literature review, focused on contributions since a similar stock-taking exercise in 20101, the paper delineates significant advances, emerging trends and topics, and tries to chart critical needs and opportunities going forward. It describes the climate communication landscape midway through the second decade of the 21st century to contextualize the challenges faced by climate change communication as a scientific field. Despite the important progress made on key scientific challenges laid out in 2010, persistent challenges remain (superficial public understanding of climate change, transitioning from awareness and concern to action, communicating in deeply politicized and polarized environments, and dealing with the growing sense of overwhelm and hopelessness). In addition, new challenges and topics have emerged that communication researchers and practitioners now face. The paper reflects on the crucial need to improve the interaction between climate communication research and practice, and calls for dedicated science-practice boundary work focused on climate change communication. A set of new charges to climate communicators and researchers are offered in hopes to move climate change communication to a new place – at once more humble yet also more ambitious than ever before, befitting to the crucial role it could play in the cultural work humanity faces with climate change. Keywords Communication science/research, communication practice, progress since 2010, boundary work, role of communication in societal transformation Introduction Climate change communication in the second decade of the 21st century is no longer the largely uncharted "wilderness" (or metaphorical "wild West") of 20 years, or even just 10 years, ago. Both the science and practice of communicating the most profound environmental change in human history have progressed considerably in recent years. This change has been brought about by a confluence of forces originating in the climate itself, in climate science, and climate policy and actions, as well as in climate communication science (a shorthand used here to describe the multi-disciplinary research activities underway that contribute to a better social-scientific understanding of the climate communication process) and communication practice, including its supporting communication technologies. From the first three emanate foreboding along with urgency, unrest and upset; from the latter a growing sense of proficiency yet also diversity, dispersion and discontent. This is the pre-publication version of this article. For referencing and citing, please consult the final published version: Moser, Susanne C. (2016). What more is there to say? Reflections on climate change communication research and practice in the second decade of the 21st century. WIREs – Climate Change, in press, doi: 10.1002/wcc.403. 2 In the aftermath of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015 (COP21), this is an opportune time to consider the progress made, and the challenges ahead for communicating climate change. Clearly, since a similar stock-taking review during WIREs-Climate Change's first year of existence1, much has happened in our field. Appreciable advancements in climate change awareness and majority support for climate and clean energy policies, as well as appreciable advances in our understanding of how best to communicate climate change, may make one wonder what more there is to say about climate change, including about how to communicate it. Is it not simply time for action now? This paper considers these questions not through an all- encompassing literature review, but through a delineation of trends, a critical sifting of claims, and a prospective outlook so as to offer another road marker and to chart priority needs and opportunities going forward. If metaphorically climate change communication has left behind the "wild West" stage of its early beginnings, one might view its current state more like a "working landscape," bearing the clear signs of domestication. It is this metaphorical comparison that guides the structure of this paper. The section immediately below launches from a description of the "landscape" midway through the second decade of the 21st century in which climate communication occurs. This sets the context for the challenges faced by climate change communication as a "field." I will discuss the progress made on key scientific challenges laid out in my 2010 review paper 1, but also offer a critical assessment of persistent and newly emerging communication challenges that both researchers and practitioners now face. The paper then turns to a challenge not addressed in 2010, namely the need for improved bi-directional flow of insights and influence between communication science and practice, i.e. better interactions across the science/practice interface (the metaphorical "fence" or, rather, fences). The paper concludes with a set of new charges to climate communicators and researchers, proposing areas of "work" that could move climate change communication to a new place – at once more humble yet also more ambitious than ever before, befitting to the crucial role it could play in the cultural work humanity faces with climate change. The Landscape Over the past five years, critical opportunities to communicate climate change have abounded. These opportunities have emerged from a landscape, which is shaped by profoundly influential forces, some incremental, others extreme and novel. One may group these defining forces into six categories. First, there is the climate itself, regularly giving opportunity to talk about climate disruption and climate change. The last few years have given us repeatedly notable climatic extremes such as Superstorm Sandy (2012) or Typhoon Haiyan (2013), and the extreme-heat events in India (2015), each contributing to crop failures, extensive infrastructure damage and tragic loss of life. In some instances it was the unprecedented nature of these extremes that stood out; in others it was the crossing of (anticipated and arbitrary, albeit symbolic) thresholds in the context of accelerating trends that mattered: passing the 400 ppm CO2 concentration threshold, 2015 being the sad "winner" to date in the long sequence of annual average temperature records yet to come, the collapse of significant segments of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, or the crossing of the half-way point on our seemingly inexorable path to the much debated 2⁰C warming threshold. Closely related, of course, is the second category of forces shaping the climate communication landscape, made up of regular incremental scientific advances, notable discoveries, as well as landmark climate change assessments. Over the past few years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fifth comprehensive assessment2, and the US released its third in 20143 with extensive 5 top 18 represent not quite 35%, with the far greater majority of articles appearing in widely spread academic outlets (in all, in more than 400 journals!); (2) Climate communication research varies in academic visibility, appearing in low- to high-impact journals: 11 out of the 18 top outlets have impact factors (in 2014/15) <3.000 (relatively speaking, a lower impact factor), but four have impact factors >3.000 (medium) and three >5.000 (high impact); and (3) Climate communication research is highly interdisciplinary: it cannot be solely characterized as a subfield of communication (only three of the top 18 outlets are principally communication journals); nor is it merely a subfield of climate change research although several of the leading outlets are interdisciplinary climate journals (e.g., Climatic Change, WIREs-Climate Change and Nature Climate Change). [insert Table 1 near here] Arguably, this is as it should be. Because climate change affects everything and everyone everywhere, effective communication about it should involve and reach across disciplinary, sectoral and geographic boundaries, aiming to reach colleagues wherever they work. Speaking to those diverse interests and spheres of application may be more influential on choice of outlets than academic impact; and as an integrative human activity in a highly contested communications milieu, climate communication simply defies traditional, albeit artificial disciplinary divisions. As a result, no one "owns" climate communication research," or maybe more accurately, everyone does, which entails both dangers and benefits. Everyone needs it, everyone contributes to it, yet it is difficult to gain disciplinary prestige with it and nearly impossible to keep up with the often highly relevant but impossibly wide distribution of scholarship. This situation makes review journals like WIREs-Climate Change indispensible to keep track of any number of subtopics, but even those reviews are so plentiful now that even "renaissance scholars" would find it difficult to keep up with and integrate across them. Not surprisingly, innovative approaches are now emerging to organize and make relevant scholarship more accessible (see The Climate Web at: http://climatographer.com/climate-web/). Progress on Core Climate Change Communication Concerns since 2010 Beyond this broad characterization, what substantive advances have climate communication researchers made since 2010? Below, I highlight contributions in the six challenge areas outlined in that review article (Ref. 1, pp.43-44). Key elements of the communication process Effective communication requires detailed understanding of one's audience, and researchers have spent considerable time better understanding different audience types and segments within and across national, sectoral, and age samples. Some of this work has been experimental (e.g., exploring changes in perceptions, understanding and attitudes upon a controlled intervention), while other studies have used (singularly or in combination) the more common survey, interview or focus group approaches12, 13, 31-41. Out of this context, the role of values, beliefs, worldviews, identity and meaning-making has become one of the most prominent occupations of climate communication researchers24, 42-47. Among the critical takeaways from this body of work is that, first, we all hear, perceive, make sense of and judge incoming information (be it spoken, written, visual or sensory) through the filters of culturally transmitted values and no one can escape this influence although we can become conscious of this influence and actively probe it, if we are willing. Second, the values we hold affect not only our perceptions and interpretations 6 of the climate and our acceptability of climate science, but – crucially, and often more prominently – the acceptability of anticipated or proposed behavioral changes, technological solutions or climate policies. Third, and logically following, climate communication meets acceptance or resistance and thus can be made more resonant for different audiences by approaching it through value frames48-52. Not surprisingly, this focus on values has spawned considerable attention to framing, messaging and language53-70, and as part of framing and messaging, the question of effectiveness of different messengers66, 71-74. Beyond the written or spoken word itself, climate communication researchers have concerned themselves increasingly with a wide range of communication aids. Given the difficulty of seeing and representing the causes of climate change, as well as the climate itself and changes in it, the role of visualizations and the use of imagery have become prominent topics of exploration75-87. Integrating insights on the difficulties of understanding climate change, on language, imagery, and the imaginal, communication experts now point increasingly to the importance of story-telling and using narrative formats to convey climate change88-94. Others have investigated gaming and other interactive tools to make climate change and an otherwise abstract and difficult to imagine future more accessible both for lay audiences of all ages as well as in professional planning and decision-making contexts80, 95-97. These various lines of research have come together in, and inevitably brought greater attention to, the role of emotions in climate change communication. This greater focus on the affective and emotional (as opposed to just the cognitive) side of climate change is partly driven by the irrational-seeming lack of concern about the problem and persistent psychological distancing98-103, partly by the often intense emotional reactance to climate change (and its messengers) by those who do not "believe" in climate change104, 105, and partly by the increasingly observed sense of despair and hopelessness among those who understand the science and experience early impacts and/or the lack of commensurate action59, 106- 108. Some researchers emphasize that emotions play a critical role in decision-making109, while others recognize their importance in issue acceptance, motivation or resistance to action and policy-support or opposition27, 110-115, and in health and well-being116-120. Maybe not yet as fully appreciated as it might be, this growing body of research illustrates the mutually constitutive nature of the psychic, social and cultural realms110, 121, 122. Communication channels and forms On the second set of research challenges posed in 2010, a steady flow of studies has emerged on the question of communication channels and forms. This reflects, of course, their crucial importance for the communication process itself, but also because of the paramount importance of the media in conveying, translating, interpreting and giving meaning and importance – or not – to the complex scientific and policy aspects of climate change. At the same time, the media landscape is itself undergoing profound changes, both political-economically and technologically, thus affecting what, how, how often, and at what level of proficiency climate news is being reported and discussed 123-127. The growing proliferation of studies empirically and critically examining media coverage of climate change, new scientific discoveries or specific policy events, as well as climate-related topics (such as energy supplies) in traditionally well-studied countries clearly has continued since 2010 (e.g., Refs. 128, 129). What is new, refreshing and beginning to fill a significant gap in the literature, are media studies for heretofore neglected areas of the world (e.g., Refs 130-134) as well as cross-national, comparative studies83, 135-137. What is maybe as significant as this broader survey of world climate news coverage is the implied fact that such coverage now actually exists. 7 A number of researchers have offered reviews and in-depth examinations of the role of traditional and/vs. newer social media138-144, illustrating clearly how the communication landscape – not just for climate change – is in flux and being transformed. This suggests that traditional, single-media focused communication approaches are, if not necessarily a thing of the past, clearly losing their dependable impact on public audiences, given the far more fragmented, but also more diverse set of communication channels available. The tension between climate change as a scientifically, politically, socioeconomically and culturally complex phenomenon often requiring expert communication and interpretation on the one hand and a media landscape that is in the hands of the variably educated, motivated and ideologically leaning many on the other, however, could not be starker145. The situation poses extraordinary challenges for those wishing to communicate, as well as for those who must discern which communication channels to trust and which to pay attention to146. It also poses new challenges to communication research in that the once heuristically defensible approach to understanding shifts in public opinion by studying news media coverage with its assumed opinion-shaping influence is now proving insufficient. Clearly, there has been a shift from viewing media mainly as news sources, leading influencers, and crucial fora for public debate toward seeing them increasingly as political actors in their own right, as public extensions of deep social divisions, and as echo chambers for opinions in a profoundly political, politicized, and polarized debate147-149. Nonetheless, some researchers see positive opportunities afforded by the range of media channels, taking them as imperative to make more effective use and to integrate media research into transdisciplinary climate research150. Another body of relevant climate communication research here is focused on specialized forms of communication, ranging from critical reviews of how major reports such as the IPCC assessments serve communication69, 132, 151-154, to examinations of climate change in films155, 156, to explorations of the relatively new sub-genre of sci-fi embellishing predominately dystopian climate futures ("cli-fi")139. Similar reviews and critical examinations of the impact of such cultural expressions as climate change music, poetry, photography, fiction, cartoons, sculpture, and theater are only beginning to emerge (exemplary contributions are found in Ref. 19). Communicating mitigation and adaptation If early climate communication was largely focused on awareness raising and explaining the science of climate change (assuming that knowledge alone would suffice to move people to action), the challenge that has become apparent long since is how best to move audiences to action. This has resulted in considerable research into human motivation and capacities43, 113, 157, 158, and also in what distracts from it159, 160, with a persistent focus on uncertainty, and whether, when, and how best to communicate it30, 35, 97, 151, 152, 161-164. What has surfaced clearly from this body of work, is that the need for explaining and educating has not diminished165, but that knowledge itself is insufficiently motivating to take action, and that it is far from clear to even the most motivated people what actions to take166. Thus, a shift toward enabling and empowering action has followed73, 113, 167, 168. It is now widely recognized that actions and practical support must be a central part of all climate communication, not necessarily in a prescriptive fashion, but options should be discussed and audiences must see and feel empowered to choose viable options. Along with this recognition has come a growing focus in practice and research on how best to communicate mitigation and adaptation. Where and how much to focus one's communication, however, and how soon to pivot from science to policy, from impacts to responses, from urgency to action, from explaining to mobilizing remain critical concerns. Along with these has come the question how best to balance talk about mitigation versus adaptation, as many have argued that raising the specter of 10 from the humanities and the role of the arts in communicating and engaging the public on climate change. Along the way, new topics and needs have been emerging, and they will continue to occupy researchers for years to come, including the needs and ways of communicating different types of climate mitigation/energy solutions (e.g., renewables, carbon capture and storage, nuclear energy) 173, 204, 205, adaptation options in different sectors 169, 206, as well as the specter of the yet more complex and challenging issue of geoengineering 207-214. Meanwhile, persistent challenges plague practitioners and provide ample opportunity for further advancement. Most likely, they can only be achieved through integrative science and connecting insights across each of the issue areas listed above. For example, further work is needed on the stubborn superficiality of climate change understanding in the general public, on how to move publics from mere awareness, concern and understanding to active engagement, on how to communicate effectively in a deeply politicized and polarized environment, and on how to deal with the growing sense of overwhelm and hopelessness observed among many audiences. First attempts at such science-based, practice-oriented integration have recently been offered, and they deserve widespread attention21, 22. Their contributions are many, but among the most important may be that they lay bare the intra-psychic, inter-personal, social, cultural and political-economic dynamics that shape people's responses to climate change. In so doing, these authors have brought crucial attention to the ways in which social norms and psychological defenses perpetuate a remarkable "climate silence" in society. But they also help counter the demonization of just one particularly obstinate segment of humanity – the "deniers" and "contrarians." Outright efforts in public deception aside, they show instead how we all, even the constructively engaged, have various defenses against a threat that is existential to some, deeply disturbing to emotional equanimity in others, and profoundly challenging to the identities of many more. Table 2 is an attempt to synthesize (in even more compressed form) what is scientifically known about the defenses climate communicators have to contend with, and in fact often inadvertently trigger. The naming of the defenses listed here is based on Ref. 22, but their explanation, how they are triggered, and how they might be overcome also draws heavily on Refs. 21, 215. [Insert Table 2 about here] Given the proliferation of research across many disciplines, outlets, and research centers, such integrative syntheses are extremely helpful to meet the growing and changing needs of communicators. Yet there is a significant challenge in conducting thorough reviews and integrating – often seemingly contradictory or partial – insights from various subfields while not succumbing to offering simplistic guidance. If climate communication research wants to be more than an academic field of study, it must take on the lessons from its own research (and from its close neighbors in STS studies) and engage with communication practitioners more effectively than is currently practiced. The Fence The Communication Science–Practice Gap Of course, the world of climate communication practice is not sharply separated from the world of climate communication research. Many of the researchers cited here also engage the public on climate change, be it via op-eds, blogs, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, public speeches, 11 dialogue events, or otherwise. Many focus on communicating climate change, and some serve as models for how to do so effectively; fewer, however, seem to be engaged in sharing with practitioners their social scientific insights on how to communicate climate change most effectively. Granted, there exists to my knowledge no systematic study that has surveyed how many and how often climate communication researchers share their insights with those who spend their days practicing the trade. Thus, the science-practice gap in climate communication and the many different shapes it takes ("fences" rather than a single "fence") is somewhat speculative, may vary across nations, and constitutes an area ripe for study itself. There are reasons to believe, however, that relatively few communication researchers – some prominent individuals excepted –actively, frequently, or on a sustained basis interact with those who do the lion share of climate communication. Academics typically are not rewarded for such outreach, i.e., for sharing their findings in non-academic outlets; it is time-consuming to do; researchers are not trained to do so effectively, and given the often polarized atmosphere around climate change, many shy away from it. Clearly, there are some encouraging signs – such as research programs encouraging engagement with societal partners (not just as research subjects, but as co-designers and co- producers of research) and funding requirements to demonstrate "societal benefit." However, the landscape of incentives and capacity building efforts to assist researchers to engage beyond academia is highly varied and far from what it might be. Meanwhile few practitioners have the time, inclination or access to read social science journals and keep up with the ever increasing output from researchers in climate communication. This is even more difficult in an interdisciplinary field such as climate communication, where research is presented across a wide spread of disciplinary social science or interdisciplinary journals and books (see Table 1). The still dominant, narrow disciplinary studies reinforce partial and disjointed treatment of what is in reality a holistic communication challenge. Non-experts may not find it easy to put the latest findings into a larger, integrative picture of communication. Moreover, academic publications are typically jargon-laden, and frequently do not offer recommendations for how to use the findings in practice. And even if some are offered, they are often too general for application in specific contexts. Thus, it is not surprising (if only anecdotal at this time), when communicators admit that they hear about and are interested in relevant social science research (in particular polling data) but don't know "what it means" or "how to translate these scientific insights into real-world communication strategies." Kahan's (2014) provocative essay 216, "Making climate-science communication evidence-based," should be read against that backdrop. He states: "mere familiarity with the science of science communication is not sufficient. For genuine progress to be made, it is necessary for [scientists, government officials and advocacy groups] to proceed scientifically in making use of such knowledge" (pp.203-204). This challenge is far from unique to communication science, but it is singled out here as a challenge to our field, which is in large part motivated by the claim that "perception, behavior, and communication are central to addressing climate change" (Ref. 217, p.703). If communication researchers want climate communication to be as effective and impactful as it could be, their work must connect more effectively with those who do most of the talking (climate scientists, policy-makers, advocates in all sectors of society, journalists, editors, public intellectuals). Differently put, simply putting social science findings "out there" and assuming they will find their way into practice, is as ineffective in communication science as it is in climate science218. In fact, drawing on insights from experts in transdisciplinarity and STS, communication researchers have to actively help make that connection happen219. Boundary Crossings: Examples of Communication Science–Practice Interaction 12 Do we see such active engagement between communication researchers and practitioners? The science- practice gap just described notwithstanding, the reality is not entirely bleak. Traditional forms of interaction via "science translators" and more recently emerging, innovative instances of exchange between communication researchers and practitioners exist. The latter – as a newer facet of the climate communication landscape – is promising indeed, though is not yet at scale. Traditional links between communication expertise and those who want it Advocates more than any other group of climate communicators have traditionally relied on communication consultants and media firms to help with their outreach and campaigns. Such work has assisted strategic communication and involved opinion surveys, message testing, targeted framing research, etc. Often, such applied work-for-hire is not accompanied by a comprehensive review of the latest relevant communication science, and typically is proprietary, thus not widely available or broadly shared. But due to the rapid turn-around, context-specificity, and strategic orientation, such work can be more responsive than academic research to practitioner needs. Another traditional form of improving climate communication has been to "outsource" that task from researchers to professional science communicators or translators, e.g., extension agents, outreach specialists, educators, professional editors, or journalists. While this approach has the potential to improve the communication of climate science, no systematic study to my knowledge has tested whether such intermediaries actually put the latest insights from climate communication research to use. Based on more than a dozen communication trainings personally offered to professional communicators who had basic training in science education or science communication, but no specific training in climate change communication, even this group makes little use of the existing social scientific literature. Thus, there is a cohort of willing and well-positioned professionals whose effectiveness may be significantly enhanced through dedicated training or professional development. Novel climate communication resources An important development over the past five or so years is the emergence of climate communication resources intended to better equip communicators with requisite background and guidelines. Most of these are online and freely available. Table 3 lists these, suggesting that most are either resource hubs or research-based entities that make their findings more widely available. Fewer provide hands-on trainings in communication, and even fewer are true collaboratives in which researchers and practitioners interact directly (the Climate Advocacy Lab may be one of the best examples for that). [Insert Table 3 about here] Only English-language resources are included in Table 3 because of linguistic limitations of the author (no comparable resources were found in French or German), thus the listing includes predominantly European and American sites. That limitation notwithstanding, it may be telling that such resources dominate in the Anglo-Saxon world, where resistance to climate action, politicization of climate science, and polarization have been stronger than elsewhere. Recent findings on the widespread lack of awareness and understanding of climate change, and frequently religious explanations of observed changes in large portions of the world12, 14, 34, 220, however, point to the need to strengthen climate change communication everywhere, albeit heeding unique needs in different contexts. Meeting the Communication Science-Practice Interaction Needs As Corner and colleagues argue221, in order to advance improved climate communication, more than better communication practice, more than interdisciplinary research, resource hubs and dedicated 15 References 1. Moser SC. Communicating climate change: History, challenges, process and future directions. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 2010, 1:31-53. 2. IPCC. Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report of the Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Geneva: IPCC; 2014. 3. Melillo JM, Richmond TC, Yohe GW, eds. Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment. Washington, DC: U.S. Global Change Research Program; 2014. 4. Cloyd E, Moser SC, Maibach E, Maldonado J, Chen T. Engagement in the Third US National Climate Assessment: Commitment, capacity, and communication for impact. Climatic Change 2015, 35(1):39-54. 5. 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Tables Table 1: Leading Publication Outlets for Climate Change Communication Rank (by # of papers) Journal Impact factor† (2014/15) # of Papers on climate communication (2005-15)* Total‡ % of N 1 Climatic Change 3.430 60 4.9 2 Environmental Communication 0.817 51 4.2 3 Global Environmental Change 5.089 47 3.9 4 Science Communication 1.517 35 2.9 5 WIREs-Climate Change 3.415 33 2.7 6 Risk Analysis 2.502 27 2.2 7 Public Understanding of Science 1.766 26 2.1 8 Journal of Risk Research 0.935 18 1.5 9 Energy Policy 2.575 17 1.4 10 Environmental Science & Policy 3.018 16 1.3 11 Journal of Environmental Psychology 2.640 15 1.2 12 PNAS 9.674 14 1.1 13 Regional Environmental Change 2.628 13 1.1 14 Weather, Climate & Society 1.696 13 1.1 15 Ecological Economics 2.720 11 0.9 16 Nature Climate Change 14.547 11 0.9 17 Bulletin of The Atomic Scientist 0.690 11 0.9 18 PLOS One 3.234 10 0.8 N=1,220 27 * - While all available data were included for 2005-2015 (see text), there is a delay in records being entered into Web of Science, thus the reported total for 2015 that is likely too small, and the total N likely larger for the 10-year range. † - Impact factors collected from http://www.bioxbio.com/if/ ‡ - Only those journals are listed which had at least 10 articles (on average 1/year) over the 10 year period examined. 30 #4 DEFENSE – DENIAL: DEFENSE AGAINST LOSS OF ONE'S SOCIAL TIES OR STANDING. Dealing with social dissonance through active denial, self-defense, playing to in- group/out-group dynamics, and attack on others Unnecessary polarization, demonization Trigger fear, guilt and self-protective impulses through frames (language, imagery) Climate deniers = Holocaust deniers Complicit avoidance of potentially divisive, disturbing topics Death threats, ad hominem attacks on scientists Active politicization of science Active polarization through name- calling, demonization of politicians, activists, scientists Use of enemy narratives Activists and scientists are heavy CO2 emitters "There has been no warming" claims "Fossil fuel energy is essential or else..." claims Use face-to-face interactions wherever possible (dialogues, joint action, clubs) Use peer messengers Use the power of social networks Tap competition, desire to be better, recognized as good/better Tap desire to work/be together Stories of reconciliation, coming together, cooperation, resilience (not necessarily unity of opinion) Provide positive feedback as signals of valuable change #5 DEFENSE – iDENTITY: DEFENSE AGAINST IDENTITY CHANGE. Resistance to change who we are, how we see ourselves through avoidance, denial, helplessness, reinforcement of existing identity, or attack on others Insisting on actions, policies, solutions that are unacceptable to opponents (e.g., government intervention) Unnecessary polarization, demonization Using messengers that are not trusted by/similar to the intended audience The threat to mobilize around is climate change, at all costs Offering no vision of a positive future Unnecessary polarization, demonization "The American way of life is not up for debate..." proclamations The threat to mobilize around is what "they" propose as solutions to climate change Fostering anti-science and anti- government sentiments Emphasis on freedom from government, individual freedom, free market economics Inspiration (to become better humans, to have a better life) Appeal to deeply held values (e.g., responsibility, stewardship, family, community) Illustrate new social/cultural norms Open up space to discuss a wide variety of policies/responses Use the power of stories to make meaning Stories of positive transformation (a better life is possible) (quest, overcoming a huge challenge, hero's journey) Stories of commitment, conviction (and change in conviction) Create a sense of the collective Tap into local sense of place/ patriotism/community/pride Tap into status as respected, compassionate, leading, innovative community member Sources: See text. 31 Table 3: Selected climate communication resources: Think tanks, service providers, collaboratives and resource hubs Name of resource (alphabetic order) Type 1 Web access Think tank, forum or research org. Service provider (e.g. trainings) Resource hub Collaborative American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Center for Public Engagement with Science & Technology X http://www.aaas.org/pes/communicating- science-workshops/ Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) X http://guide.cred.columbia.edu/ Climate Access X X X http://www.climateaccess.org Climate Advocacy Lab X X http://www.climateadvocacylab.org/ (special access to resources for members) Climate Change Media Partnership X http://www.climatemediapartnership.org/ (for members) Climate Communication X https://www.climatecommunication.org/ Climate Nexus X X http://climatenexus.org/ Climate Outreach X X X http://www.climateoutreach.org.uk/ Climate Shift X http://climateshiftproject.org/ Climate Voices X X http://climatevoices.org/ CoClimate X X http://www.coclimate.com/ Common Cause X X X http://valuesandframes.org/ Connecting on Climate 2 X http://www.connectingonclimate.org/ ecoAmerica X X http://ecoamerica.org/ George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication X http://www.climatechangecommunication.org/ International Environmental Communication Association (IECA) 3 X X X https://theieca.org/ MeCCSA Climate Change X X X http://www.meccsa.org.uk/networks/climate- 32 Name of resource (alphabetic order) Type 1 Web access Think tank, forum or research org. Service provider (e.g. trainings) Resource hub Collaborative Network 4 change-network/ Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting X http://metcalfinstitute.org/resources/communica ting-on-climate-change/ MomentUs 5 X X http://ecoamerica.org/momentus/ National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) 6 X X X http://www.nnocci.org/ Science and Environment Communication Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) X X http://www.ecrea.eu/divisions/section/id/16 Susanne Moser Research & Consulting X X http://www.susannemoser.com/ Talking Climate 7 X X http://talkingclimate.org/ Union of Concerned Scientists 8 X http://www.ucsusa.org/action/science_network/s cience-network-workshop-series.html Yale Project on Climate change Communication X http://environment.yale.edu/climate- communication/ Yale Climate Connections X http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/ Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media X X http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/ TOTALS 16 11 16 6 Notes: 1 The resources listed can be broadly categorized, but many transcend the listed categories and offer more than one type of resource for those interested in improving their climate communication. Dominant characteristics for each resource are marked (x). Traditional consulting firms, academic communications programs, general communication-focused professional societies, and general environmental communications centers have been excluded from this listing. 2 This resource is a joint product of CRED and ecoAmerica. 3 While a broader professional association, IECA has a strong climate change focus in publications, trainings, resources .
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