Communicating Climate ScienceCognition + Affect = Effect
Marda KirnEcoArts Connections
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network October 12, 2010
Research
“Environmental Education and Attitudes: Emotions and Beliefs are What is Needed”
By Julie Ann Pooley and Moira O’ConnorEnvironment and Behavior, September 2000
Online version available at:http://eab.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/5/711
The Big Question
Why is it that so many people knowabout multiple environmental crises
but so few people are doing anything about them -
let alone responding to the science?
More Research
“Creating a Climate for Change:Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change”Edited by Susanne C. Moser (UCAR) and Lisa Dilling (CIRES)
Cambridge University Press, 2007
The Affective Domainhttp://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/index.html
Entertainment – Education (E-E)http://www.jhuccp.org/legacy/topics/ee.html
Fixing the Communications Failure*
• Community• Equality• Egalitarian and communitarian values• Suspicious of commerce and
industry• Believe environmental risks
should be restricted• Trust bearded male in a denim
shirt
• Individualism• Authority• Hierarchical values• Prize personal initiative• Admire commerce and
industry• Dismiss evidence of
environmental risks• Trust grey-haired male in
a suit
*Dan Kahan, Nature, Vol 463, 21 January, 2010
Two Information Processing Systems of the Brain*
Analytic• Logical• Deliberative• Analytic• Perceives reality in abstract
symbols, words, numbers• Rules and algorithms need to be
learned; does not happen automatically
Examples• Numerical statistics in tables,
figures, graphs, charts
Experiential• Holistic• Intuitive• Emotion-driven (fear, dread,
anxiety)• Perceives reality in concrete
images and narratives, linked in associations
• Operates automatically and without any training
Examples• Images or stories• Emotionally charged and vivid
* “The Psychology of Climate Change Communication,” Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, Earth Institute, Columbia University
Benefits of Collaborating with the Arts
• Increase Audiences – More People• Attract New Audiences – Different People• Increase Media Attention – New, More• Make climate science accessible,
personal, tangible, visceral
How to “Do” Arts/Science Collaborative Projects?
• Find the arts people and have coffee(bring questions to explore)
• Find out where your goals, needs, challenges and resources might over overlap or help each other
• Suggest a collaborationas individual scientists and artistsas academic departments
• Invent programming principles
• Think ecosystemically
EcoArts Connections Programming Principles
• Artistic excellence
• Scientific accuracy
• Environmental effectiveness
• Ethical practice
• The middle way (non-partisan or bi-partisan)
• Open, listening, generous, and compassionate heart
Marda KirnEcoArts Connections
PO Box 356Boulder, CO 80306