Break climate conversation out of its shell! by Jumpstart Talk

Excellent idea using media a power tool to shift the attitudes upon understanding the "cradle to grave" lifecycle of the product and move to a "Cradle to Cradle" mindset. I would like to read more it implementation process. Bests, Manohar

My question is about the proposal to work towards changing how the way media effectively addresses climate change topics.

A note on my progress: I have been doing a lot of reading. I am excited to find out more is going on than I realized. All the more reason to educate the media to include these stories more often. For example: Greening the Media by Toby Miller Listen to an interview with him at: www.pri.org/stories/2015-05-07/your-netflix-binging-might-be-hurting-planet Six Capitals, or Can Accountants Save the Planet? By Jane Gleeson-­White -Elizabeth

Dear Vishal, Thank you for reading and commenting on my proposal, Break Climate Change out of its Shell! I appreciate the idea of using a well-known personality to gain attention, or to act as an ambassador about the topic. Perhaps different personalities could be used to reach different audiences. I am concerned that we would be "preaching to the choir". At the same time we need to start somewhere and to begin to broaden and shape the conversation. Even with a well-known personality the background research has to be done. I could see incorporating your idea further down the road as we broaden our reach. Thank you for your input! Elizabeth Dowey

Manohar, Thank you for your review and comments. Yes, raising funds is a concern. I am developing my own credentials through this crowdsourcing project. Were this proposal to reach the finalist phase a presentation at MIT’s Solve conference or another Climate CoLab sponsored forum could bring in collaborators or sponsors. I will be researching organizations such as the New America Foundation for possible collaboration. It may be possible to begin the program on a shoestring and gain merit and bring in supporters. I shall add these thoughts to the Proposal Costs page. Again, thank you for your input. Best, Elizabeth

Thank you for your comments and references Rezwan! You make some important points, particularly the use of language. I wonder if we should be using the word triage to describe our global situation. Are we at the point where they dangers of nuclear power pale in comparison to the dangers of not using nuclear power. I also like the use of clear info-graphics to convey information. I will look more closely at the references in your proposal. I wonder if you know the group Mothers Out Front? ( http://www.mothersoutfront.org ) They have conversations in people's homes about climate issues. Best, Elizabeth (Born and raised in NJ)

I love the idea about cleaning up the media. Having a standard set of common criteria or subjects to address should help make things much more consistent. However, I have a couple of areas to think about...

1. Do we risk convoluting every media story with mixed messages for every new technology or policy?
   Sometimes I feel like the media go for simple stories because most people don't have the time/inclination to read long well-balanced articles on climate change...
   Is this idea specifically focused on articles that are currently read primarily by people already interested in climate change?I agree that human's generally don't pay enough attention to nuance in the media, but do we risk boring a large portion of the readership/viewership because we focus on the details too much?
    
2. Are there groups out there that do this already? Might be a good idea to look at how they manage to support their editors and 'monitors'.

Saying that, I still love the idea! It needs to be done, but perhaps we just need to think about how it's implemented.

 

Hi Elizabeth,

Your suggestion of creating what is essentially a PR firm for climate change is needed, and I appreciate your exploration into this topic. Are you familiar with this organization: http://www.climateaccess.org

Here are few thoughts from my particular line of work that could help shape your final proposal:

The media does play a large role in our understanding of climate change issues for a number of reasons, but even with the information made available, this does guarantee behavior change. I agree with your theory that more coverage = an inability to avoid the information. 

I would encourage this project to consider first focusing on a specific region, where research can facilitate localizing and personalizing climate change impacts for the community. The spacial redistribution of what are peceived as "NIMBY" events, climate change impacts abstracted by distance and complexity, into events that are happening in one's own neighborhood is an effective tool for influencing behavior change. Much psychological and social science research into climate change communication strategy highlights these factors as critical. Media outlets should not only communicate climate change information, but highlight local adaptation activities for engagement and the social, economic and environmental benefits of such activities for a more holistic, community-centric understanding of the issues.

Localizing the effort may also help you to identify funding opportunities and individuals willing to work for your cause.

Check out this publication for further detail: http://guide.cred.columbia.edu

There are existing organizations that are quite large and well funded who do much of the kind of work suggested by this proposal. Climate Nexus (climatenexus.org), based in NYC with 25 full time staff, was started by a group of foundations who felt professional PR for climate change was needed. Another group, Climate Central (climatecentral.org), based in Princeton NJ with more than 40 full time staff, does some different things but also covers many of these bases. I think it's important that those developing this proposal learn more about what is already being done by these and other organizations to avoid further duplication (and/or competition) of efforts.

The focus of this project, as stated in its title, Break Climate Conversation Out of its Shell!, is to broaden the ways in which we talk about climate change (with emphasis on "talk").   The role we are seeking to play is to inject the topic in new ways into the public conversation and to make connections beyond the energy and technology fields.  We will start by participating in public forums, talk radio, blogs and Twitter.  We will work towards partnering with other organizations such as Mothers Out Front.  The focus will be on members of the general public shaping the climate conversation.   

In this latest revision we incorporated "best practice insights" from van der Linden, Maibach, and Leiserowitz to create a sense of possibility in tackling climate change.  We believe many of the changes required by climate change such as shorter commutes and bringing the natural world back into our daily lives will improve our lives and communities.

I hope this answers some of the comments.

Best,

Elizabeth Dowey

Hello Commentors,

I have voted for this proposal. Congratulations to Elizabeth, Rezwan, Manohar, Steve, Jess, Angélica, Ronald and William on their selection as finalists! TEEU as outlined in my proposal https://www.climatecolab.org/contests/2016/energy-supply/c/proposal/1316801 is scalable for ownership by the land-owning citizen. As such, action can be taken by the individual members of the public by boycotting electricity produced by their local fossil fuel power plant in favour of utilising the solar-thermal energy captured in the garden soil or walls of a residential property or home.

What makes the energy supply companies sit up and pay more attention to the end consumer (public) than when the consumer ceases to use their electricity (which produces greenhouse gas as a by-product)?  

I for one hope that your dialog will one day make the above a reality some day!

Please review my proposal and vote if you think it can help. The "energy supply" vote will not remove the "Shifting Behavior for a Changing Climate" vote.

Best regards,

Dimoir