On a frosty November morning in Warsaw, a workshop entitled Be the Movement brought together a wide variety of global climate change professionals to discuss practical strategies for building a stronger and more far-reaching global movement to combat climate change.
My contribution focused on the question of how people can communicate better about climate change and reach new audiences. To answer this, I started by asking my workgroup a series of smaller questions. For the veterans of global negotiations: Is there something they should be doing differently? Is it time to change the language they use? What about those who do not have detailed scientific knowledge of climate change - what do they need to know?
These types of questions are at the core to the project that I've spent the last two years working on called Climate Asia, the largest-ever study of people's understanding and experience of climate change across seven countries in Asia. The aim of the project is to create better ways of communicating so that people will take effective action in response to climate change.
In our morning discussion group, we used BBC Media Action's Climate Change Communication Toolkit, which includes Climate Communication Cards to stimulate discussion of how to reach diverse audiences, ranging from farmers in Kenya to voters in the United States. It was immediately apparent that a 'one-size-fits-all' communication approach does not work.
Diverse audiences have different media preferences. Community radio, for example, is a good vehicle to stimulate discussion of local concerns and how to adapt to climate change in rural Kenya. By contrast, online media is considered crucial in a developed country like the United States.
Content is also crucial. As Eliza Anyangwe of the Guardian Development Professionals Network said later, "A lot of effort is spent on trying to tell people that climate change is happening, but not very much on trying to give the people [...] a sense of what they can do."
In our workshop, participants stressed the need to move beyond awareness-raising about climate change and instead focus on ways to stimulate action. One suggestion was to encourage people to change their environmentally-unfriendly behaviour through television dramas that feature examples of positive behaviour. Other participants stressed the importance of direct face-to-face conversation. As Michelle Kovacevic of the Centre for International Forestry Research pointed out, communication like this can play a positive role by "building awareness, motivation, self-belief, knowledge and skills."
My contribution focused on the question of how people can communicate better about climate change and reach new audiences. To answer this, I started by asking my workgroup a series of smaller questions. For the veterans of global negotiations: Is there something they should be doing differently? Is it time to change the language they use? What about those who do not have detailed scientific knowledge of climate change - what do they need to know?
These types of questions are at the core to the project that I've spent the last two years working on called Climate Asia, the largest-ever study of people's understanding and experience of climate change across seven countries in Asia. The aim of the project is to create better ways of communicating so that people will take effective action in response to climate change.
In our morning discussion group, we used BBC Media Action's Climate Change Communication Toolkit, which includes Climate Communication Cards to stimulate discussion of how to reach diverse audiences, ranging from farmers in Kenya to voters in the United States. It was immediately apparent that a 'one-size-fits-all' communication approach does not work.
Diverse audiences have different media preferences. Community radio, for example, is a good vehicle to stimulate discussion of local concerns and how to adapt to climate change in rural Kenya. By contrast, online media is considered crucial in a developed country like the United States.
Content is also crucial. As Eliza Anyangwe of the Guardian Development Professionals Network said later, "A lot of effort is spent on trying to tell people that climate change is happening, but not very much on trying to give the people [...] a sense of what they can do."
In our workshop, participants stressed the need to move beyond awareness-raising about climate change and instead focus on ways to stimulate action. One suggestion was to encourage people to change their environmentally-unfriendly behaviour through television dramas that feature examples of positive behaviour. Other participants stressed the importance of direct face-to-face conversation. As Michelle Kovacevic of the Centre for International Forestry Research pointed out, communication like this can play a positive role by "building awareness, motivation, self-belief, knowledge and skills."
Tan Copsey presenting outcomes of communication Photograph: Wawer Tomasz/Connect4Climate
The workshop, which was co-hosted by Connect4Climate and the University of Warsaw drew a number of Polish academics and climate change experts, as well as scores of Polish students from both the university and surrounding high schools. Some of the Polish participants expressed concerns that Poland's need to rely on coal for the foreseeable future is a real challenge to climate action. Others noted that youth could be the change and help drive climate solutions. As a young Kenyan climate activist pointed out, "I believe one person can make a difference."
This idea was picked up by Rachel Kyte, vice president for sustainable development at the World Bank Group, in her motivational address. She encouraged the youth present to take action and join the global climate change movement. "If you want to make change, you're going to have to take the brave fork in the road. That's your challenge," she said. (see the video of her talk here)
Looking back on the day, it's clear that there is an astonishing array of ideas to stimulate collective action to respond to climate change. Strategies for reaching new, broader audiences need to be encouraged. These should focus on sharing practical ideas for action. New and innovative responses to climate change may come from one person in rural Kenya or one Polish student in Warsaw.
The workshop, which was co-hosted by Connect4Climate and the University of Warsaw drew a number of Polish academics and climate change experts, as well as scores of Polish students from both the university and surrounding high schools. Some of the Polish participants expressed concerns that Poland's need to rely on coal for the foreseeable future is a real challenge to climate action. Others noted that youth could be the change and help drive climate solutions. As a young Kenyan climate activist pointed out, "I believe one person can make a difference."
This idea was picked up by Rachel Kyte, vice president for sustainable development at the World Bank Group, in her motivational address. She encouraged the youth present to take action and join the global climate change movement. "If you want to make change, you're going to have to take the brave fork in the road. That's your challenge," she said. (see the video of her talk here)
Looking back on the day, it's clear that there is an astonishing array of ideas to stimulate collective action to respond to climate change. Strategies for reaching new, broader audiences need to be encouraged. These should focus on sharing practical ideas for action. New and innovative responses to climate change may come from one person in rural Kenya or one Polish student in Warsaw.
No comments:
Post a Comment