The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public

Shome, D.; Marx, Sabine M.; Appelt, Kirstin C.; Arora, Poonam; Balstad, Roberta; Broad, Kenneth; Freedman, Amy L.; Handgraaf, Michel J. J.; Hardisty, David J.; Krantz, David H.; Leiserowitz, Anthony; LoBuglio, M.; Logg, Jennifer M.; Mazhirov, A.; Milch, Kerry F.; Nawi, N.; Peterson, Nicole; Soghoian, A.; Weber, Elke U.

doi:10.7916/d8-byzb-0s23

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…14 These not only include the recommendations above, but also emphasize the importance of "using emotions, visual images, and using subtle, but powerful language choices." 9…”

Section: Provide Patient Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their beliefs are shaped by their worldviews, moral values, and identities-none of which humans interrogate or change. 9 That means that doctors and other health professionals have to explain climate change in ways that are genuine, meaningful, and useful to their patients, without trying to get them to change how they see the world-but they have a head start. 10,11 Every person comes into the examination room with a different lived experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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When Climate Change Shows Up in the Exam Room

Katzman,

Wheat,

Christiano

2023

J Am Board Fam Med

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Climate change is considered one of the greatest threats to humanity and the most significant global public health emergency of our lifetime. Millions of people from throughout the globe suffer and die each year from degraded air quality, extreme heat, water and vector-borne diseases as well as the mental health effects of climate change. Because clinicians are considered one of the most trusted sources of climate information, they have a unique opportunity to communicate the many health-related effects of climate change to their patients. It is important for clinicians to understand the most beneficial techniques to use when communicating with patients who may need more information regarding climate change and extreme weather events. These include 1) meeting patients where they are, 2) providing patient education, and 3) telling authentic stories. Developing and delivering effective communication strategies to our patients to prevent and prepare for climate-related health issues are paramount-if we are to make meaningful progress.

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“…14 These not only include the recommendations above, but also emphasize the importance of "using emotions, visual images, and using subtle, but powerful language choices." 9…”

Section: Provide Patient Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Climate Change Shows Up in the Exam Room

Katzman,

Wheat,

Christiano

2023

J Am Board Fam Med

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“…Research has shown that social-emotional resilience and hope [20,47], along with social-emotional support from a peer-group or community of practice, are needed for environmental educators to be able to effectively communicate about distressing environmental issues such as climate change [21,48]. Establishing relationships early allows the participants to begin to see each other as sharing beliefs, values, and norms which helps create a sense of shared identity [13]. Anecdotal evidence from climate communication, education, and interpretation training from the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), among many others, shows that individuals need this support as they learn the heavy news of climate science as well as the impacts and implications of climate disruption [44].…”

Section: Social-emotional Resilience and Trauma-aware Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the prevalence, magnitude, and range of trauma associated with various aspects of climate work and the increasing number of people personally and directly exposed to the impacts of climate change [51], we chose to incorporate the use of and education about trauma-aware practices in the UC Climate Stewards course. Moreover, knowing that trauma-aware practices influence people's ability to learn and act (based on scholarship linked to trauma-informed work in public schools) [50,52], we anticipated a trauma-aware lens would: (1) be less likely to trigger a memory that might cause them unnecessary pain; (2) be less likely to overwhelm participants causing them to deny the state of affairs and/or isolate themselves from all thoughts of climate disruption, its impacts, and, most significantly, its solutions; and (3) mitigate communication concerns related to crisis-laden language that can make situations seem hopeless and cause "normal" people to shut down and dissociate themselves from the distressing issue [10,13].…”

Section: Social-emotional Resilience and Trauma-aware Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…People are motivated to take action when they feel like they can make a difference [10] and are more likely to participate in activities that the communities with which they identify with are engaged [11]. Related work has suggested that adults may make behavior choices based on the influence of their cultural group/identity [12]; as such, focusing education efforts on influencing community identity through the lens of social factors such as networks, norms, and capital may be a vector through which to promote taking climate action [7,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adult Climate Change Education Advances Learning, Self-Efficacy, and Agency for Community-Scale Stewardship

2022

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Education per se does not necessarily foster positive environmental behaviors; rather, a complex assemblage of influences including social integration, discovering shared values, strengthening environmental identity, self-efficacy, and agency is needed to foster environmental stewardship. We examine the participant outcomes from a new adult climate education and service course, which is delivered by local organizations. The UC Climate Stewards certification course includes relationship building, social-emotional learning, climate science, climate communication, monitoring resilience, and how to take community-scale action. Based on results from ~154 participants, we observed significant improvement in self-efficacy, with confidence to help protect communities increasing from x¯ = 3.59 (3 is neutral) to x¯ 4.32 (4 is agree) (p < 0.00). The importance of doing something or taking action about climate change appears to be a value that was strongly held prior to taking the course and aligns with motivations for becoming a certified Climate Steward; hence, it only slightly increased from (x¯ = 4.25) to (x¯ = 4.57) (p < 0.00). Climate Stewards’ feeling of competency in talking about the subject increased (from x¯ 3.05 before to x¯ = 4.24 after, p < 0.00, N = 111). Finally, we examine the community-scale stewardship taken by the Climate Steward volunteers, from information provided through self-reporting, and explore additional approaches to researching pathways from education to agency.

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Climate Change Adaptation Planning with Peri-Urban Local Government in Victoria, Australia

Larsen¹,

McGuinness²

2016

Balanced Urban Development: Options and Strategies for Liveable Cities

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Climate change presents many challenges for local government in Victoria, Australia. In the Macedon Ranges local government area the future climate is likely to include more hot days, less rainfall and run-off and increased frequency and intensity of extreme events such as drought, fl ash fl ooding and wildfi re. The purpose of this project was to identify, analyse and evaluate climate change risks and develop an adaptation plan that would assist the Macedon Ranges Shire Council on the outskirts of Melbourne begin to plan for likely impacts arising from climate change.The development of the adaptation plan employed a best practice risk management approach in line with AS/NZS 31000:2009 and AS 5334:2013 and took and whole-of-council approach. Undertaking a risk assessment approach to climate change adaptation planning for a peri-urban local government area was successful. The approach assisted council to build capacity in climate change, adaptation and the process of undertaking a risk assessment and defi ne their area of operation, infl uence and responsibility in regards to adaptation actions and the role of other external stakeholders. Further, it helped them to integrate the risks and associated adaptation options directly into the existing risk register system and understand the relativity of climate risks to non-climate risks that the council faces, such as land use change, increasing proportions of absentee landholders and an ageing demographic.

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The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public

Cited by 16 publications

References 36 publications

When Climate Change Shows Up in the Exam Room

When Climate Change Shows Up in the Exam Room

Adult Climate Change Education Advances Learning, Self-Efficacy, and Agency for Community-Scale Stewardship

Climate Change Adaptation Planning with Peri-Urban Local Government in Victoria, Australia

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