Climate Change Education Goals, Audiences, and Strategies: A Workshop Summary (2011) / Chapter Skim
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2 Climate Change Education Goals and Outcomes for Various Public Audiences
2 Climate Change Education Goals and Outcomes for Various Public Audiences
Pages 19-34
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From page 19... ...
The session was framed around audience segmentation strategies that are becoming increasingly common to climate change discussions, such as addressing people's receptivity to information about climate change or their capacity to comprehend various messages around climate change based on their underlying mental models. In this session, experts examined the nature of understanding and engagement with climate change across diverse audiences and the cultural and political factors that influence them.
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From page 20... ...
identified six unique segments of the American pub lic, referred to as Global Warming's Six Americas, each of which responds to information about climate change in distinct ways. The Six Americas represent a broad spectrum of responses to climate change, from active engagement to complete dismissal.
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From page 21... ...
, which he attributed to several causes including the economy and high unemployment, the concurrent major decline in media coverage, two snowy winters on the east coast, an active and effectual denial industry, and the "climategate scandal." Leiserowitz highlighted several survey questions in his current research that ask about respondents' belief in global warming and its relationship to human actions, noting that the responses show stark differences among the Six Americas segments. The percentage of respondents who expressed belief in climate change and its human causes declined steadily across the groups, from the Alarmed to the lowest level among the Dismissive.
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From page 22... ...
He also pointed to the fact that more accurate knowledge about climate science may not trump other fundamental beliefs or agendas that stand in competition to addressing climate change. In an attempt to gauge individuals' deeper understanding of the climate system, Leiserowitz' study participants were asked to select one of several alternative conceptual models of climate change.
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From page 23... ...
Reiterating that the Six Americas groups respond to climate change information in very different ways, he emphasized that people actively interpret information and construct their own mental models based on what they personally know, value, and feel. Leiserowitz ended by saying that knowledge is necessary but insufficient to meet the needs of different audience segments.1 1 More information on this research is available at http://environment.yale.edu/climate.
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From page 24... ...
She observed that the enthusiasts' belief in the effectiveness of a climate change mitigation strategy was related to whether they viewed the strategy as an environmentally good practice in general. She stated that these findings reinforce the research conclusions of Leiserowitz that these types of beliefs can lead enthusiasts/alarmists to support climate change mitigation policies that are ineffective or nonspecific.
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From page 25... ...
Identifying the characteristics of individu als more likely to accept or deny the reality and seriousness of climate change may allow leaders of public education efforts to more effectively frame their messages to key audience segments and/or identify barriers to existing education efforts. McCright found a sizable political divide between liberals/Democrats and conservatives/Republicans on the issue of global warming, with liberals and Democrats more likely to hold beliefs consistent with the scientific consensus and to express concern about this environmental problem than conservatives and Republicans.
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From page 26... ...
Observing that ideological and political elites have become increasingly polarized on a wide range of issues in recent decades -- including environmental issues, such as climate change -- McCright said that the public has followed this trend of political polarization. Even if this polarization trend slows or reverses, the political divide in the American public will remain much larger than it was in 2001 -- the year that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly established the current scientific consensus on climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001)
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From page 27... ...
Clayton said her research indicates that the emotional response to a climate change message will also affect the behavioral response. In her view, climate change education will be effective only if it convinces people to change their behavior, such as modifying unsustainable lifestyles or advocating for policies to address the problem.
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From page 28... ...
Leiserowitz responded that, given the broad challenge of climate change and the diversity of the American public, there is not a onesize-fits-all approach to climate change education. Individuals take on many different roles that potentially influence or are influenced by climate change, acting at different times as energy users, consumers, members of a political party or religious organization, and citizens.
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From page 29... ...
Clayton explained that the workplace provides a social context in which people may more readily receive climate change information, and McCright encouraged the climate education community to draw on the research on the sociology of organizations and organizational change. David Hassenzahl asked if the research findings on the segmentation of different audiences within the American public helps to identify points of entry, in which climate change education is likely to garner the greatest
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From page 30... ...
He argued that it is very important for the climate change education community "to break out of the environment box, and the political box, to avoid being mired down in the ongoing cultural wars." Leiserowitz observed that climate change can be legitimately and accurately characterized as a public health issue, an economic competitiveness issue, a national security issue, and a moral and a religious issue. He advocated framing messages in these contexts, to help all audience segments recog nize that their values are at stake in climate change.
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From page 31... ...
He described this lack of awareness of climate change as "an education challenge." Clayton added that the relationship between one's belief or disbelief in climate change and one's political views is very different in different countries. For example, in China, where the government strongly supports taking action to address climate change, one cannot be pro-government and deny climate change, as in the United States.
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From page 32... ...
People responded that educators can help the alarmed group to develop a better understanding of the science to solidify their support for real solutions, to show this group how to take actions that will truly have a positive impact on climate change problems, and to activate the group as educators for peers in their social environment. Several groups also described the concerned audience as important because its members already lean toward accepting and understanding climate change issues.
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From page 33... ...
And others said that climate change educators could target local, regional, and national opinion leaders in politics, media, art, civic society, and business who can shape the cultural and political discussions on climate change and, in part, determine shared cultural values that provide the social context in which individuals navigate their own identities.
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