Resources for Environmental and Sustainability Communicators
When it comes to mainstreaming low-carbon lifestyles, why do we need to move from ‘nudge’ to ‘think’? How do we make sure we’re focusing on the behaviours and audiences that really matter? When does one sustainable behaviour lead to another? What role do positive social norms and authentic storytelling play? These are some of the questions brought together in a...
In this report we explore additional language that speaks to the values and identities of different audiences within Alberta. The report includes narratives tailored to each audience – what communicators call “sub-narratives”. The sub-narratives are intended to sit within the larger meta- narrative from Report I, giving the latter greater nuance and speci c meaning.
This guide is intended to provide practical guidance for climate and energy communicators about what language works well and – crucially – what language might pose an obstacle for communicating with any specific group. This first volume is concerned with finding the language that works best across Albertan society by helping to find common ground across very different positions. This...
The epochal scale of today’s environmental challenges is now beyond serious scientific dispute. Awareness of the scale of these challenges grows ever greater – in the case of climate change, it seems that the prognoses of climatologists grow yet more urgent on an almost weekly basis. And as this awareness grows, so too does our understanding of the gulf between...
Research shows that most Americans do not feel a personal connection to climate change. They are aware of it, they may even rank it as a concern, but according to a 2008 Pew Research Center for People and the Press, they do not perceive it as a near-term priority on par with, say, the economic downturn or the need to...
As our understanding of the scale of environmental challenges deepens, so we are also forced to contemplate the inadequacy of the current responses to these challenges. By and large, these responses retreat from engaging the values that underpin our decisions as citizens, voters and consumers: mainstream approaches to tackling environmental threats do not question the dominance of today’s individualistic and...
