Afleveringen
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This episode features a conversation with Kris De Meyer, Director of the UCL Climate Action Unit. It was recorded in July 2024.
Kris is a neuroscientist, a science communicator and a science-policy co-production expert, bringing insights from neuroscience and psychology to the domain of climate change. He specialises in how people become entrenched in their beliefs, how this leads to polarisation in society, and how to overcome these conditions.
The Climate Action Unit works to change how scientists, policymakers, businesses, media, civil society organisations and citizens engage with each other about climate change. And Kris is responsible for the neuroscientific basis of the interventions that the unit designs and delivers.
Kris is also a Senior Research Fellow in UCL’s Department of Earth Sciences, has co-produced an award-winning documentary, called Right Between Your Ears, exploring how people views become ingrained, and co-created The Justice Syndicate, a participatory play about how we disagree.
Amongst other things, Kris and I discussed fear and agency, where the conventional wisdom gets things wrong, and why stories about actions taken in response to climate change offer the total package when it comes to stimulating meaningful responses from our audiences.
Additional links:
Visit the Climate Action Unit website
Watch Kris’ brilliant TEDx Talk
Transforming the stories we tell about climate change: from issue to action
Check out Elliot Aronson’s article Fear, Denial, and Sensible Action in the Face of Disasters
Explore the UN Climate Chief’s speech “2 years to save the world”
Read Mike Hulme’s article on “Deadline-ism”
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This time, instead of chatting to a special guest, listeners just like you are joining the conversation. It’s a Call-In Show!
Over the last couple of months, all kinds of voice messages have been submitted by listeners to act as a springboard for brainstorming, problem solving, and broader discussion around a range of climate communication challenges, observations, and questions.
Through the course of this episode, we’ll dig into a number of them, exploring themes like framing, psychological distance, climate deadlines, and some fundamentals of climate communications, across formats ranging from social media posts to speeches, and more.
But we won’t just be pointing out flaws and failures. This is a show about solutions. So, I’ll be looking to a kaleidoscope of disciplines and perspectives, as well as the wisdom of previous Communicating Climate Change podcast guests, to find a path forward in each case.
If you want to leave a voice message of your own, whether to respond to a topic discussed in this episode or to raise a new one for consideration for the next call-in show, just head over to the Call-In Show page. It couldn’t be easier to get involved!
Guidance on submitting to the Call-In Show:
Step 1: Go to the Call-In Show page.
Step 2: Hit the “Start Recording” button.
Step 3: Describe your challenge, example, or observation.
Step 4: Hit the “Stop” button when you’re done.
Step 5: Enter your name and email if you want (it’s optional) and hit “Send”.
Step 6: Tune in to the Call-In Show to see if your message gets featured!
I can’t wait hear from you!
Additional links
Communicating Climate Change With Funmibi Ogunlesi
Communicating Climate Change With Josh Garrett
Communicating Climate Change With Kevin Green
Bohn and Rogge paper “The Framing of Green Innovations”
Tesla Cybertruck beats Porsche 911 while towing a 911
Adam Corner on how to reach people beyond the green bubble
Full transcript of Simon Stiell’s speech at Chatham House
My attempt at rewriting Simon Stiell’s speech
Here’s some recent research about doomerism and shareablity
Here’s the link to the Mike Hulme piece on deadline-ism
Link to the original Climate Crisis Advisory Group post on LinkedIn
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This episode features a conversation with Izzy Howden, Senior Campaign Manager at Make My Money Matter, an organization working to transform the financial system. It was recorded in August 2024.
Over the past 3 years, Izzy has worked across all of Make My Money Matter’s public campaign activity, including the viral films, The Hidden Relationship, featuring Kit Harington and Rose Leslie, and Oblivian, featuring Olivia Coleman, which have racked up hundreds of millions of views, generated massive media coverage, and picked up a slew of awards.
She’s also directly engaged the financial sector to drive climate action, following Make My Money Matter’s mission to move money from the destructive, harmful investments of the past, into those that help build a future we can be proud of.
Before joining Make My Money Matter, Izzy developed strategic, creative campaigns for clients such as the Global Project for Education, the World Economic Forum, Peace One Day, and Footprint Coalition.
Amongst other things, Izzy and I discussed the task of making pensions and climate finance engaging for audiences, how working with celebrities can take things to the next level, and how embracing creativity, humour, and satire can give campaigns an edge.
Additional links:
Visit the Make My Money Matter website
Watch Oblivian with Olivia Coleman
Watch The Hidden Relationship with Kit Harington and Rose Leslie
Watch the “Saving Jane” deforestation animation
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This episode features a conversation with Sam Narr, Founder and CEO of Kibbo Kift Agency, a specialist PR and performance marketing agency exclusively promoting climate solutions and social justice initiatives.
Heavily influenced by his third-generation immigrant background, working-class roots, and an education in radical social movements and pop culture, Sam’s motivation to work in environmentalism stems from an ambition to rebalance society's social and racial inequities.
Over the last five years, Kibbo Kift Agency has worked with 60+ clients including climate activists, corporate pressure groups, innovative tech start-ups, responsible fashion brands, global climate organisations, and more.
Kibbo Kift's projects have included a national campaign with Greenpeace UK, a national campaign to pressure MPs to support the only proposed legislation that ensures a joined-up approach to tackling the dual climate and nature crises, as well as ongoing media management of advertising and PR pressure group Clean Creatives, and global press office management for the world's largest digital clock, The Climate Clock, which counts down the time left until humanity passes the 1.5C threshold.
Amongst other things, Sam and I discussed the rightwards political shift happening across the UK, Europe, and the United States, where this issue gets tangled up with climate, and what can be learned from the campaigns that brought us Brexit and Trump.
Additional links:
Visit the Kibbo Kift Agency website
Check out the Climate and Nature Bill campaign
Explore Britain Talks Climate from Climate Outreach
Ding dong, it’s The Climate Clock
Dig in to the Communicating Climate Change E-Learning Course on the Creatives for Climate Community Hub
See The Brexit Bus
Read about the Stop the Boats campaign
Reclaiming Englishness with Caroline Lucas
Communicating Climate Change Call-In Show #1
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This episode features a conversation with investigative journalist, Tsira Gvasalia. It was recorded in person, in Tbilisi, Georgia, in August, 2024, at the n-ost conference for climate journalism. It is one of four episodes dedicated to issues complicating climate communication in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region.
Tsira is an investigative and science journalist based in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is the founder of Cactus Media, a bilingual news platform raising awareness about the interconnection of human health and environmental pollution.
Since 2010, she’s worked for a number of Georgian print and online media organizations, while also contributing to international outlets. With a focus on investigating corruption connected to natural resource extraction and environmental pollution in Georgia, as well as Russian business interests in precious metal mining across the region, Tsira works to shed light on the lack of climate, environment, and health data in Post-Soviet countries, stressing the importance of improving data collection and evidence-based decision-making processes.
Amongst other things, Tsira and I discussed the challenges facing climate journalists living under rising authoritarianism, the interconnectedness of climate change and the rest of our lives, and the identity crises facing post-Soviet countries like Georgia, as they try to establish who they are and what they stand for.
Additional links:
Check out Tsira’s platform, Cactus Media
Read the article about gold mining producing golden pollution
Read about the Shovi landslide disaster
Katherine Dunn’s piece about the Georgian Foreign Agent Law
Institute for the Study of War’s article about the 2024 Georgian election
Tsira’s profile on the n-ost website
Tsira’s profile on the Journalismfund Europe website
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This episode features a conversation with Alexei Ovchinnikov, Editor-in-Chief of the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group. It was recorded in person, in Tbilisi, Georgia, in August, 2024, at the n-ost conference for climate journalism. It is one of four episodes dedicated to issues complicating climate communication in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region.
Alexei is a Belarusian environmental activist, journalist, researcher, and member of Green Network, an environmental organization in exile.
He was an author and co-editor of independent Belarusian environmental media outlet, Green Belarus, as well as an author and co-editor of Ukrainian regional environmental protection platform, Eco.Rayon.
In September 2021, he left Belarus for political reasons, first living in Ukraine and now in Georgia. At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Alexei started to analyze and report on the environmental consequences of the conflict.
Today, he continues his environmental activities in exile, organizing local environmental meetings and workshops, and advocating for international recognition of ecocide.
Amongst other things, Alexei and I discussed climate propaganda, the need to perform due diligence when reporting on the environmental impacts of war, and the surprising solutions stories coming out of Ukraine.
Additional links:
Check out the Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group website
Read about the Kahovka dam incident
Learn about the impacts of the war on forests
Alexei’s profile on the n-ost website
Visit the Razom We Stand website
Check out Ecoaction.ua
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This episode features a conversation with Ukrainian journalist, Serhii Barbu. It was recorded in September, 2024.
With over 10 years of experience as a professional journalist, Serhii specialises in covering energy-related issues. His main place of work is Kyiv-based, Channel 5, where he holds the position of a special correspondent and news anchor, and has previously acted as special correspondent from the UN headquarters in New York.
Serhii also collaborates with two online publications: LB.ua and the Ukrainian Energy Magazine.
I met Serhii at a conference on climate journalism organized by n-ost, a network for journalists reporting on Eastern Europe, held in Tbilisi, Georgia, earlier this year. I was there to hear the experiences of those reporting on climate despite a range of challenges, including censorship, authoritarianism, and full-scale war, and Serhii’s stories really stuck with me. I was very glad that he agreed to chat for the podcast.
Amongst other things, Serhii and I discussed the intersection of climate change and the conflict in Ukraine, how climate-related disinformation is weaponised by the Russian war machine, and how climate doomism fails in the face of more immediate existential threats.
Additional links:
Channel 5’s YouTube channel
Ukraine’s Channel 5 news website
Check out LB.ua
Serhii’s profile on the n-ost website
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This episode features a conversation with Iryna Ponedelnik, Climate Project Manager at n-ost, a network for journalists reporting on Eastern Europe. It was recorded in person, in Tbilisi, Georgia, in August, 2024.
Iryna is a science communicator who manages projects in the field of climate change, youth engagement, and the sustainable development goals.
As well as her work at n-ost, Iryna is a representative of Green Network, a partnership of environmental organizations, activists, initiatives, and experts united for the development of the green movement in Belarus.
She’s a board member of the Climate Action Network for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, has acted as an observer at COP and SB negotiations, and was awarded a green ticket for the UN Youth Climate Conference in 2019.
Iryna and I met back in June of this year, during the UN Climate Meetings in Bonn, Germany, where I was delivering some climate communications training alongside folks from UNU-EHS and UNFCCC. Iryna was quick to question the relevance of some approaches for contexts where, for example, freedom of speech was limited.
Following further discussion, Iryna invited me to attend n-ost’s conference on climate journalism in Tbilisi, Georgia, to hear the experiences of those reporting on climate despite a range of challenges, including censorship, authoritarianism, and full-scale war.
Amongst other things, Iryna and I discussed the lack of visibility the region has on the international stage, the surreality of being labeled an extremist, and the need to live in exile in order to talk about climate change.
Additional links:
Check out the Climate Action Network Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia
Find out more about the n-ost network for cross-border journalism
Read about and support Green Network
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This episode features a conversation with Hikaru Wakeel Hayakawa, Executive Director of Climate Cardinals, one of the world’s largest youth-led climate advocacy organisations, who work to make the climate movement more accessible to those who don’t speak English. It was recorded in August, 2024.
In his role, Hikaru oversees a volunteering program that is projected to grow to over 60,000 volunteers by the end of 2024, translating climate-related information into over 100 different languages.
Hikaru established Climate Cardinals’ signature translation program in partnership with Translators Without Borders and Google Cloud, expanding the organisation’s translation capacity to a million words per year.
Under Hikaru’s watch, Climate Cardinals has handled translation requests for over two million words of climate information, has fundraised for a six-figure budget, and became one of the first-ever youth-led organizations to be funded by Google’s philanthropic branch.
Hikaru represents Climate Cardinals as part of UNESCO’s Youth Climate Action Network Steering Committee, a network of networks that represents over 10 million youth climate activists, and has spoken about his work for the Smithsonian, the UN Development Programme, the Italian Ministry of the Environment, the March On Foundation, Williams College, and the U.S. Interagency Group on Climate Literacy. His work has also been featured in Axios, the Guardian, Forbes, and Teen Vogue.
All this, while still a university student.
Amongst other things, Hikaru and I discussed the fact that more than 90% of scientific information about climate change is only available in English, the challenges that this presents in terms of engagement and justice for the global majority, and the power this translation gap has when it comes to fueling climate misinformation.
Additional links:
Visit the Climate Cardinals website
Climate Cardinals Founder Sophia Kianni’s TED Talk
Join the Climate Cardinals mailing list
Candis Callison’s book, “How Climate Comes to Matter”
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This time, instead of chatting to a special guest, listeners just like you are joining the conversation. It’s a Call-In Show!
Over the last couple of months, all kinds of voice messages have been submitted by listeners to act as a springboard for brainstorming, problem solving, and broader discussion around a range of climate communication challenges, observations, and questions.
Through the course of this episode, we’ll dig into a number of them, exploring themes like greenwashing, backfire effects, and some other fundamentals of the craft.
But we won’t just be pointing out flaws and failures. This is a show about solutions. So, I’ll be looking to a kaleidoscope of disciplines and perspectives, as well as the wisdom of previous Communicating Climate Change podcast guests, to find a path forward in each case.
If you want to leave a voice message of your own, whether to respond to a topic discussed in this episode or to raise a new one for consideration for the next call-in show, just head over to the Call-In Show page. It couldn’t be easier to get involved!
Guidance on submitting to the Call-In Show:
Step 1: Go to the Call-In Show page.
Step 2: Hit the “Start Recording” button.
Step 3: Describe your challenge, example, or observation.
Step 4: Hit the “Stop” button when you’re done.
Step 5: Enter your name and email if you want (it’s optional) and hit “Send”.
Step 6: Tune in to the Call-In Show to see if your message gets featured!
I can’t wait hear from you!
Additional links
See Ellie’s original post about the restaurant here
Read the original magazine article here (note that this has now been updated and no longer features the steak restaurant being discussed)
Check out the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency documentation for the Alpro and BrewDog cases
Explore the Creatives for Climate Greenwash Watch Training
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Alexandra Borchardt exploring climate journalism that works
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Jennie King digging into climate mis- and disinformation
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Harriet Kingaby on all things greenwashing
Here’s the Guardian article raised in Joseph’s call
Discover my foundational course in climate change communication on the Creatives for Climate community hub
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With John Marshall about climate messaging that works
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Thomas Coombes about hope-based communications
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Florencia Lujani about engaging the persuadables
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Funmibi Ogunlesi about communication framing
Read the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication article about pro-climate voters
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Kevin Green about behaviour change
Listen to Communicating Climate Change With Marcos Pelenur about what we can learn from behavioural insights
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This episode features a conversation with Iminza Mbwaya, Programme Manager at Sounds Right, a platform for global music artists to help nature fund its own conservation. It was recorded in September, 2024.
Sounds Right is an initiative by the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live, an agile extension of the United Nations, exploring unconventional pathways to spark global empathy, action and change through the power of popular culture and dialogue.
At Sounds Right, Iminza brings strategic, creative, and legal skillsets to the table to support the program development, design, and implementation.
Before joining the UN Live team, Iminza worked with Dalberg Global Development Advisors and afrocentric impact firm, Axum, where, amongst other things, her work focused on designing and piloting novel concepts for outsized impact and sustainable returns.
Iminza is also a performing singer-songwriter and has a background in Intellectual Property Law, where she advised creatives and businesses on how to identify, protect, and monetize their intellectual property assets.
Amongst other things, Iminza and I discussed the real-world impacts of presenting nature as an independent music artist, what happens to the royalties generated through Sounds Right, and how reconceptualising nature in this way can shift how we think about and engage with it altogether.
Additional links:
Head to the Sounds Right website
Explore NATURE’s discography on Spotify
Discover a playlist of top NATURE collaborations on Spotify
Check out the Museum for the United Nations website
Visit the EarthPercent website
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This episode features a conversation with Brooklyn-based climate communicator, creator, and independent reporter, Jacob Simon. It was recorded in August 2024.
As the mind behind Jacobsimonsays, a platform telling real stories of progress to replace dread and fear with hope and action, Jacob inspires his audience of well over half a million people across social media and his newsletter, Climativity, to overcome eco-anxiety and get involved with tackling the climate crisis through optimism, community, and action.
Jacobsimonsays has racked up more than 83 million views, over 11 million likes, and maintains a following of more than 700,000 individuals who tune in every day to hear stories about those tackling the climate crisis and learn about simple and impactful actions they can take to protect the environment.
Amongst other things, Jacob and I discussed the trials and tribulations of being a social media influencer, where to draw your line in the sand when it comes to collaborations, and the kinds of content that performs best on climate and environmental topics.
Additional links:
Follow Jacobsimonsays on TikTok
Follow Jacobsimonsays on Instagram
Visit the Jacobsimonsays website
Check out Jacob’s Climativity newsletter
Read Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050
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This episode features a conversation with Bogdan Glogovac, Partnerships Manager at Ducky, a Norwegian technology company working to turn climate efforts from a solo struggle into something fun, collaborative and engaging. It was recorded in July 2024.
With a background in Ecology, Marine Biology, and Conservation, Bogdan has spent more than a decade nurturing strategic relationships, creating and managing climate campaigns, and facilitating climate engagement workshops for a wide range of stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
Ducky offers software solutions to help track, report and reduce organizational climate footprints. One such solution, Ducky Challenge, is a digital competition that helps companies, communities, and collectives raise climate awareness and educate peers in a fun and engaging bottom-up approach.
As a father of three boys and a member of Trondheim-based improvisational theater group "Gibberish", Bogdan is passionate about playfulness. Something that, as you’ll hear, plays a major part in his life and work.
Amongst other things, Bogdan and I discussed the art of turning data into stories, the magic and mechanics of gamification, and what the wisdom of improv has to offer when it comes to tackling challenges like climate change.
Additional links:
Visit the Ducky website
Explore Ducky Challenge
Discover the Forest app
Learn more about Green Apes
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This episode features a conversation with film producer, Adam Stanhope. It was recorded in July 2024.
Alongside the likes of Mike Medavoy, Rodrigo Blaas, Keith Chapman, and executive producer, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam produced the animated feature film, Ozi – Voice of the Forest, which hits theatres across the globe on August 16th.
With a background in marketing and media, Adam has helped finance and produce an array of programmes across a range of genres, including Sky Atlantic’s Grierson-nominated sports documentary, The Fall, BBC Worldwide’s Earth, and Channel 4’s Ministry at the Dome.
Adam’s media career started in the 1980s, selling airtime for British TV network, ITV, before working his way up the ranks to Director at hugely successful UK Advertising agency Still Price Court Twivy d’Souza.
After leading one of IPG’s Global Media Agencies, Initiative Media, working with clients like Unilever, Johnson and Johnson, Coca Cola and Virgin Atlantic, Adam co-founded GCI Film to produce and finance movies.
Adam’s passions are film and the environment, and the Voices franchise, of which Ozi – Voice of the Forest is the first instalment, seeks to raise climate change awareness for a new generation.
Amongst other things, Adam and I discussed the power of animation to act as a vehicle for climate literacy, the challenges that large productions can run into as they prepare to launch, and what superstars, like DiCaprio, can bring to such projects.
Additional links:
Visit the official website for Ozi – Voice of the Forest
Watch the trailer for Ozi - Voice of the Forest
Find out more about Orangutan Coffee
Explore International Animal Rescue’s Orangutan Project
Check out the Oscar-winning short film, The Silent Child
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This episode features a conversation with climate scholar and youth climate activist, Wawa Gatheru. It was recorded in July 2024.
Wawa is the founder and Executive Director of Black Girl Environmentalist, an organization dedicated to empowering Black girls, women, and non-binary people across the climate sector.
Wawa works to bring climate justice to the mainstream, and in addition to her work at Black Girl Environmentalist, is a popular climate content creator, focused on debunking climate nihilism, highlighting the unique contributions of Black environmental leaders, and equipping her audience with what they need to get involved in climate action.
In 2019, Wawa was named the first Black person in history to receive the prestigious Rhodes, Truman and Udall scholarships for her environmental scholarship and activism.
She has since become an inaugural member of the National Environmental Youth Advisory Council of the US EPA, the first federal youth-led advisory board in the US History. She is also a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with The OpEd Project, in partnership with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Wawa sits on boards and advisory councils for EarthJustice, Climate Power, the Environmental Media Association, the National Parks Conservation Association, Good Energy, and Sound Future.
And, for her work alongside other organizers and activists, Wawa has been recognized as a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, an AfroTech Future 50, a 776 Fellow, Young Futurist by The Root, a Grist 50 FIXER, a Glamour College Woman of the Year, and named a Climate Creator to Watch by Pique Action and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
In January 2023, she even joined Billie Eilish and seven other climate activists on the cover of Vogue.
Amongst other things, Wawa and I discussed the largely unsung leadership of African American women in environmental stewardship, the make-up and mechanics of inclusive and participatory movement building, and the need to amplify alternatives to the exclusionary narratives that dominate the climate space and beyond.
Additional links:
Visit the Black Girl Environmentalist website
Visit Wawa’s personal website
Read the Vice piece that sent Wawa viral
Check out the digital Vogue cover with Billie Eilish
Read Wawa’s Earth Day 2024 article in Vogue
Find insights on inclusivity over at the Green 2.0 website
Battling Petrochemical Expansion in Cancer Alley with Rise St. James
Explore The Vessel Project of Louisiana
Discover The Descendants Project
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This episode features a conversation with Simone Salvo, Creative Director at Third Act, an organization harnessing unparalleled generational power to safeguard the climate and democracy. It was recorded in June 2024.
Simone’s work blends design, media, and technology to bridge generational and digital divides and drive impactful social change. In her role at Third Act, she leads the charge in building an accessible technological infrastructure for a powerful elder-led climate justice movement, amplifying the progressive activism of Americans over sixty, under the guidance of environmentalist Bill McKibben.
Previously, Simone was Head of Creative Communications at the Magnum Foundation, serving a global network of social justice-focused image makers, as well as committing herself to a research and communications fellowship at Human Rights First, a non-partisan organization working to right human wrongs.
She’s also an adjunct faculty member at the NYU-Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program, where she teaches courses on memory and immersive media, where her focus is on leveraging technology to enhance storytelling, rather than the other way around.
Amongst other things, Simone and I discussed the practicalities involved in engaging older adults on the climate, the enormous, largely-untapped structural power that this demographic brings to the table, and the unique ability of legacy to motivate people to take action.
Additional links:
Visit the Third Act website
Discover the Summer of Heat campaign
Read Bill McKibben’s article, “Photo editors get lazy in the heat”
Watch as a 100 year-old woman gets arrested on her birthday
See that photo of Dorothy Day and the Farmworker Movement
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Communicating Climate Change is launching a Call-In Show!
That means, it’s time for you to join the conversation.
Do you have questions related to climate communication?
Maybe you’re running into challenges developing your own climate-related output?
Or perhaps you’ve seen or heard some related content or news that you thought needed closer examination?
Well, that’s exactly what we’re looking for!
Simply head to communicatingclimatechange.com to submit a voice message about your challenge or example and it might be featured on an upcoming episode, where listener input will provide a springboard for brainstorming, problem solving, and broader discussion.
Guidance on submitting to the Call-In Show:
Step 1: Go to the Call-In Show page.
Step 2: Hit the “Start Recording” button.
Step 3: Describe your challenge, example, or observation.
Step 4: Hit the “Stop” button when you’re done.
Step 5: Enter your name and email if you want (it’s optional) and hit “Send”.
Step 6: Tune in to the Call-In Show to see if your message gets featured!
I can’t wait hear from you!
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This episode features a conversation with Thomas Coombes, Founder and Director of narrative change organization, Hope-based communications. It was recorded in January 2024.
Hope-based communications is a simple, open-source tool for anyone to use, as well as a community anyone can join. It centres around a pledge to apply five shifts to any and all communications output. Those shifts are fear to hope, problem to solution, against to for, threat to opportunity, and victims to everyday heroes.
It’s a pragmatic approach to winning support for policies and advocacy positions by showing how they’ll actually work, acting on the principle that we should be focused on building the world we want, setting the agenda with our values, our goals, our mission, rather than reacting to our opponent's frames and actions.
Borne of learnings and epiphanies during Thomas’ prior roles at Amnesty International and the European Commission, Hope-based communications offers a simple formula for telling stories of our own that contribute to the long-term changes in ideas, attitudes and behaviours, that we want to bring about.
Amongst other things, Thomas and I discussed the concept of hope as both active and visionary, how flipping our intuitions inside out and focusing on particular aspects of a story over others can strengthen our output, and how our brains work to trip us up at so many points along the way.
Additional links:
Visit the hope-based communications website
Check out Thomas’s TED Talk
Thomas’ article "Hope is Action”
Thomas’s piece "“A New Green Wave of Hope”
Follow Thomas on Substack or LinkedIn
“A Message From the Future” from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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This episode features a conversation with Tory Stephens, who manages all things climate fiction at independent, non-profit media organization, Grist. It was recorded in March 2024.
Tory is a force for good. He creates opportunities and interventions that transform organizations and shift culture, building communities around social justice issues and using storytelling to champion green, clean, and just futures.
In his role at Grist, Tory oversees the annual Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest, engaging writers from across the globe in envisioning the next generations of climate progress. Whether built on abundance or adaptation, reform or a new understanding of survival, these stories serve as a springboard for exploring how fiction can help create a better reality.
Amongst other things, Tory and I discussed the ins and outs of the cli-fi genre, how this medium is key to reaching otherwise inaccessible audiences, and how speculative imaginings can inspire change in the here and now.
Additional links:
Visit Grist’s website
Learn more about the Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest
Discover the Imagine 2200 catalogue
Listen to the audio versions
Explore Humans of New York
Denzel Washington “It’s not color, it’s culture”
Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future
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This episode features a conversation with John Marshall, CEO of the Potential Energy Coalition. It was recorded in March 2024.
John’s three decades of experience in advising the leaders of Fortune 500 companies spans branding, marketing, innovation, and digital transformation. As well as his work leading Potential Energy Coalition, John is a Professor at Dartmouth College, a senior client advisor at the marketing consulting firm, Lippincott, and he’s even delivered a Ted Talk on climate change too.
John’s been a partner at consulting firms big and small, and a frequent industry commentator, speaker, and marketing writer whose words have graced the likes of the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The New York Times, Wired, and Fast Company.
Amongst other things, John and I discussed radical audience centricity, the down sides of using crisis messaging, and how we can more successfully sell the troubled “brand” that is climate change.
Additional links:
Sign up to the “That’s Interesting!” newsletter on Potential Energy Coalition’s website
The Talk Like a Human guide
The Later is Too Late report and interactive tool
John’s TED Talk on effectively talking about climate change
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