Join me in a walk to my sit spot in the month of October…

 Step out my front door.

Head down my sidewalk, past my apple tree.

Turn towards the park.

Take the path to the right.

And….there she is!

Sit and listen.

I hope you enjoyed this short trip. I wanted to use the photos, and especially the video, to help me tell you more about my spot. 

Images and videos are a way to enhance understanding and connection with a story, more than text could do on its own. The visuals are also a tool to communicate detail in a short amount of time. Likely, from my very short walking tour above, you understood more about what I see at my sit spot, including how it looks and sounds, than you would have from a longer description delivered via text or verbally. You probably also associated some of that information with your own feelings, attitudes and emotions, therefore engaging you at a deeper level. All of these reasons make visuals an important part of climate change communications. 

Climate service organizations from around the world are catching on, using imagery to have a profound impact on the audience. The Bronx Documentary Centre online exhibit, Trump Revolution, depicts high resolution, interesting visuals to connect the audience with characters and places. These images evoke emotion and ultimately, a personal connection to the impacts of climate change. Ideally, this connection can be paired with an effective call to action to effectively change behaviour.

To further enhance the use of visuals as a climate communications tool, an emphasis can be put on visuals that are local to a specific audience. Using “my” pond as an example, I would enhance understanding of the consequences of climate change by showing the impacts on this local icon. I could do this by filming the pond from a similar angle when the water levels are much lower in a drier year and contrast the two videos in a social media post. Engagement around this climate impact would be of most interest to residents in my neighbourhood who also know this pond, because it is a local context that they relate to (Altinay, 2017).

To connect even further with an audience regarding climate change, we can build on the audience’s “place attachment,” defined as, “the bond between a person and a place” (Altinay, 2017, p. 296). By understanding the extent to which people are attached to places through their historical, emotional, and symbolic meanings, we can enhance the communications tool for the audience. Examples of places of attachment can be your home, your work, a natural area, waterbody, or a cherished location that can be utilized to engage audiences. This attachment is not necessarily because it is local to you, but because of the feelings it creates inside you. 

Perhaps the image of a Canadian lake creates a memory of an experience that allows the message to really “hit home.” For example, if the viewer remembers special moments at the lake with loved ones, they will engage with the idea of the lake more than someone who does not have those memories. This can be effective for not just explaining climate impacts for lakes, but also for inspiring action, motivated by the person’s connection to a lake. 

The double-whammy for very effective visual climate communications includes both local visual framing AND place attachment. To motivate climate action in a community, the images or videos could show climate impacts at a familiar, local feature that is also cherished because of emotions connected with it. For example, in Leduc, people often visit Telford Lake with their families for exercise, fresh air, to celebrate events, take family or wedding photos, etc. If we showed an image of a dry Telford Lake in the future, this location would be relatable to local residents and also heartbreaking for those with attachments to this place. In addition, if this information is paired with clear, relevant information on “what to do about it,” there is a better chance that the audience will take action as recommended.

Turning the focus on myself as an audience, one way to engage me would be to use visuals of my local sit spot. Why? Because I’m attached to it! So if you want to motivate me to take action, show me those low water levels at the end of a hot dry summer, with an absence of geese, surrounded by brown, crispy grass, and I will remember, feel for this place, and want to take action. 

The truth is I have seen “my” pond in this drier state in recent years. The island seemed much larger because the water levels were low, the grass was dry and brown and it was very hot, too hot even for the birds.  This made me sad. Sad because my connection to this place in much greener times, when my kids were young, and we walked the paths together. If this spot can change so much in 13 years, what will it look like in 13 years from now? Even drier? Even browner? Will there be any geese at all? This makes me want to take climate action; good thing I have a place to channel my energy in this blog, in the MACAL program.   

Both local framing and place attachment strategies have a role to play in climate communications. Climate action leaders should communicate in terms of local places that are close to the audience’s heart, and give concrete suggestions for action. This communications approach gives me hope, because many climate adaptation actions are in themselves, very local in nature. We should look for more opportunities to use local visual framing and place attachment to inspire audiences to understand and engage in climate adaptation. 

What local places are you attached to? Would you feel motivated to act if you witnessed impacts to it? Can you visualize what it will look like in the future, or would you want help with that visualization?  

Let me know your thoughts. I am interested in creating local imagery of important places that will increase understanding of future climate impacts, and ultimately inspire action.

References

Kamber, M. & Rivera, C. (2020). Trump revolution: Climate crisis. https://www.trumprevolutionbdc.org/exhibition-climate-crisis

Altinay, Z. (2017). Visual communication of climate change: Local framing and place attachment. Coastal Management, 45(4), 293-309. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/royalroads.ca?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1080%2F08920753.2017.1327344