ecoAmerica and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, have released a new climate change communication guide, Connecting on Climate: A Guide to
Effective Climate Change Communication. The guide explains how anyone, from religious leaders, to healthcare professionals, businesspeople, community leaders, journalists, scientists, educators, policymakers, and other interested parties, can better communicate with and engage the American public on the issue.
The guide is designed as a follow-up to CRED’s 2009 guide The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public and draws from a range of social
science fields including psychology, anthropology, communications, and behavioral economics.
The guide covers 10 principles for effective climate change communication and includes practical tips and research findings to support each:
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes
Channel the power of groups
Emphasize solutions and benefits
Bring climate impacts close to home
Connect climate change to issues that matter to your audience
Use images and stories to make climate change real
Make climate science meaningful
Acknowledge uncertainty, but show what you know
Approach skepticism carefully
Make behavior change easy
Click here to download the guide.
