Public Engagement, Communication & Behavioral Change
Public engagement, effective communication, and fostering behavioral change are crucial for building a collective understanding of climate change, driving action, and ensuring a just and equitable future.
Effective communication is vital when addressing climate change due to the significant influence of mediated sources and social media in people’s daily lives.
Bridging the Divide
To effectively address climate change, we must foster dialogue, understanding, and innovation. By raising awareness, building support, mobilizing action, and promoting sustainable behaviors, we can create a more resilient and equitable future.
Effective communication empowers individuals to make informed decisions and take action. Public engagement builds consensus and drives political action. By involving diverse stakeholders, we can create a shared vision for a sustainable future and mobilize support for ambitious climate policies. Furthermore, public engagement fosters innovation and problem-solving.
“The ways that social, health and diversity sciences and humanities can contribute are more evident. It goes beyond understanding and mitigating human contribution to climate change, to understanding physical, mental and community health impacts of climate change as well as ways to build more resilient individuals and communities and how to include diverse voices in solutions.”
Public Engagement, Communication & Behavioral Change Climate Solutions Accelerator Projects
Impact
Virtual reality better than video for evoking fear, spurring climate action
Depicting worst-case climate scenarios like expanding deserts and dying coral reefs may better motivate people to support environmental policies when delivered via virtual reality, according to a research team led by Penn State that studied how VR and message framing affect the impact of environmental advocacy communications.
Doom-and-gloom climate news may scare but also encourage audiences
A team of Penn State researchers investigated how seeing frightening news about climate change day after day may shape the way people feel about the phenomenon and how willing they are to take action to address it. The team found that seeing bad news about climate change can make people more afraid over time, but it also may encourage audiences to think about what society can do to address the problem.