Climate Change Education Goals, Audiences, and Strategies: A Workshop Summary (2011) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Implications of Audience Research and Segmentation for Education Strategies
3 Implications of Audience Research and Segmentation for Education Strategies
Pages 35-50
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 35... ...
asked each panelist to provide an example of a climate change education activity that was successful in reaching the public and to comment on why it was successful. CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION FOR SPECIFIC AUDIENCES Sportsmen and Other Interest Groups Kevin Coyle (National Wildlife Federation)
|
From page 36... ...
For example, as trained cadres of leaders began to talk to others in their respective states, there were evident shifts in hunter and angler support for policy reforms. Organizations that had been reluc tant to support climate change legislation or even to admit there was a problem started to become advocates.
|
From page 37... ...
He described his work with Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) , the largest faith-based climate change organization in the United States, which works with more than 10,000 congregations in 38 states.2 He noted that the community of faith-based organizations is growing to include the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs, the Evangelical Environmental Network, and the Coalition on the Environment in Jewish Life.
|
From page 38... ...
In addition, the education day led participants to visit their legislators -- both in the Cincinnati area and in Washington, DC -- to advocate for climate change policy reforms. Hitzhusen pointed out that this successful example raises basic prin ciples for effectively communicating about climate change.
|
From page 39... ...
NOTES: A total of 53 percent identified basic stewardship; 46 percent a basic ecojustice message; 27 percent emphasized a message of saving money through energy efficiency; 23 percent identified the science of climate change; 19 percent identified each of the following: practical steps to help respond to climate change, the impact of climate change on future generations, current observations of the impact of climate change on the natural world, and green jobs/green economy opportunities. A total of 15 percent emphasized personalized messages about the impact on specific people(s)
|
From page 40... ...
In its work with the corporations, the center's primary goal is to work with these businesses to elicit change in federal policy, but also to provide assistance with implementing changes in company processes and technologies. Although the center historically provided research and analysis to help chief executive officers make informed decisions, in recent years the companies have requested it to work with their employee base.
|
From page 41... ...
The basic education challenge facing the climate science education community, she said, is that a relatively small group of people (climate scientists) strongly suggests that burning fossil fuels to power the modern economy is extremely harmful to the climate over the long term.
|
From page 42... ...
The second, called Black Saturday and produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, is an interactive website that can be viewed as a map, a timeline, or a narrative to help users understand the devastating fires that took place in Victoria, Australia, in February 2009.3 The third, Climate Matters, was created by Jim Gandy, chief meteorologist with WLTX television in Columbia, South Carolina; it is a series of 30-second segments designed to help the audience understand that cli mate change already impacts their daily lives.4 Cullen also emphasized that effective communication strategies will always be somewhat different for different audiences and across different platforms. At Climate Central, they work across print, TV news, and web platforms to capitalize on events that make it into the news cycle and therefore grab the attention of the public.
|
From page 43... ...
. O'Brien sees climate change not simply as an environmental problem, but also as an issue involving human development, social justice, equity and human rights, and the capacity of individuals and communities to respond to an external threat.
|
From page 44... ...
The system shows the current national threat level through a series of colors, with the basic message to keep traveling but be extra careful when a color changes to a higher threat level. At the time of the workshop, the threat level was at yellow, which indicates an "elevated" level of threat.5 However, this system does not provide travelers with an understanding of what the color means, what to do when the color changes to protect themselves from risk, or what steps they should take to travel safely.
|
From page 45... ...
In the state of Washington, it highlighted forest fire risks caused by the local impacts of climate change. She also explained that Climate Central developed a case study of NASA satellites tracking sea ice melt in Greenland to show people the concrete evidence underlying scientists' findings that sea ice is melting.
|
From page 46... ...
The training program was successful, as many of the hunters and anglers later encouraged their governors to support legislation on climate change issues. Cullen reinforced Coyle's message, recounting that at a recent meeting she was asked whether educational efforts should stop explicitly focusing on climate change, and she replied "absolutely not." Cullen stated that it is very important for climate change educators not to lose the science message.
|
From page 47... ...
asked Hitzhusen how social justice related to climate change is perceived by faith communities. He responded that, although environmental and cli mate change issues have been part of the "culture wars" for some time, a Christian Coalition voter guide for the McCain-Obama election showed that the two candidates differed on every issue except climate change.
|
From page 48... ...
No single message, pro gram, resource, or activity will be effective in reaching the broad goals of climate change education for all audiences. Instead, it is important to frame education efforts differently for different groups and align them with each group's values.
|
From page 49... ...
Climate change educators can also directly engage individuals in storytelling, to help them share their per sonal experiences with the impacts of climate change. • Although connecting to local events is an effective way to align education efforts to the audience's interests and values, it is also important to connect these local events to the larger, global nature of climate change.
|
From page 50... ...
Participants noted that, although there are many online sites with links to numerous climate change education resources, these sites rarely review the resources or describe what programs have been successful and why. When some participants said that a single clearinghouse with this sort of information would be invaluable, others commented that the National Science Foundation is funding the creation of such a clearinghouse -- the Climate Literacy Education Awareness Network (CLEAN)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.