\nThe Narwhal’s goal is to reach all Canadians. The organization pushes independent journalism and puts the readers (and employees) before the profit. For this particular article, published on their website www.thenarwhal.ca and sent via the newsletter, the audience is the Canadian market. More specifically: the “engaged” Canadians with an interest in climate change. The ones; like us in the Climate Action Leadership program, who want to know more details about how the world is changing and how it impacts our life. The text is under the “in-depth section” citing a 10-minute reading: some commitments from the reader are needed, which support the idea of an audience already aware or involved with the environment.<\/p>\n
The techniques<\/strong> Figure 1. The ecological model, adapted from Cukier et al., 2014<\/p>\n The ecological model – presented as a framework – evolved since its first development in 1977. It places the individual in the middle of many levels of influence. The model is bidirectional which is important and revolutionary: each segment feedback to another, creating a loop of information. Its author summarized: ” individuals and communities need to be actively involved in decisions that impact the environment or ecology that surround them.” The model operates at its full potential when the communication reaches all four levels (individual, relational, community, and society). This model contains four best practices (currency, personalization, community, and trust) described more in detail in the next section.<\/p>\n 2. Framing the impact of climate change 3. Narratives of change in time and place 4. Talk about it The analysis The missing part<\/strong> Conclusion<\/strong> Resources Dupar, M., McNamara, L. and Pacha, M. (2019). Communicating climate change: A practitioner\u2019s guide. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https:\/\/unfccc.int\/sites\/default\/files\/resource\/Communicating%20climate%20change_Insights%20from%20CDKNs%20experience.pdf<\/p>\n Hayhoe, K. (2019). \u201cThe most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it.\u201d TED. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-BvcToPZCLI&t=14s Iseke, J. (2013). Indigenous storytelling as research. International review of qualitative research 6(4), 559-577. https:\/\/go.openathens.net\/redirector\/royalroads.ca?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1525%2Firqr.2013.6.4.559<\/p>\n Krau\u00df, K., & Bremer, S. (2020). The role of place-based narratives of change in climate risk governance. Climate Risk Management. Volume 28. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.crm.2020.100221.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learning about climate communication is an interesting topic that brings me to evaluate every article that I read from a different angle. A dear friend recently introduced me to The Narwhal – a non-profit, reader-funded news organization. Receiving their newsletter… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":958,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cals502"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/958"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1. The ecological model<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/n1prevostmaurice\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/910\/2021\/10\/The-ecological-model-adapted-from-Cukier-et-al.-2014.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAs per Dupar et al (2019), there is a desire from the population to understand how climate change impacts (or will impact) their life. Encouraging climate action and illustrating possibilities can be done by communicators (Dupar et al, 2020) and in my opinion, need to be done. Opportunities need to create impact and meaning by showing the reality to the audience. It can be done by relating about jobs, food security, economy to name a few. Finding the human interest story is part of this technique: it’s how the communicator shares a story that people can relate to and see themselves in. It makes a difference in how the message is perceived. Cruickshank uses this technique in an inspiring way: multiple topics are covered to illustrate the many layers of climate change in BC. She shared real stories, images, and meaningful facts about the impact on the hospitality industry, wildlife, and the economy. By presenting different aspects of the situation in the province, she raises awareness among the Canadian public. How Cruickshank frames this picture to create impact is tangible.<\/p>\n
\nIt is one of the seven lessons that the authors discovered in their research. Kraub & Bremer (2021) confirmed that” Narratives give an insight into the weather worlds we are enmeshed in”. By taking into consideration where we are now and by comparing the markers events of the past, some reflections and understandings can emerge into people’s minds and force them to reflect on what is going on. This technique relies on moving beyond the science-based data to blend culture and nature as well as climate and society. By listening to the stories of the people, their description of the landscape, and the historical accounts, regional narratives can be mapped and developed (Kraub & Bremer). Then, these narratives can create guidelines used to communicate better. Cruickshank’s article is very aligned with the main argument of the authors: “attention to local narratives expands the scope of issues covered by climate information and improves its integration into social and cultural life.” She talked about how the weather is now – for example a 1 in 1000-year event compare to a 1 in 5 to 10 years event with a warming climate. Also, she mentioned the potential rise of the temperature with reference to 2050 and 2080 for Vancouver and the Okanagan: both places being well known by the Canadians.<\/p>\n
\nKatherine Hayhoe explained in her presentation that most citizens don’t act or believe in climate change because of identity and ideology. There is a disconnection that makes most Americans thinking climate change won’t affect their lives and it makes them not talk about it. She raised a good point by addressing that the need is not to talk about the science only – scientists have done it since 1850 and there has been still little behavioural change – but to talk about shared values, why it matters and actions. Her method is about building a bridge, not creating more division between citizens. She recommends connecting the dots as the preferred communication technique used to impact people. It can be summarized as meeting people where they are by using hope instead of fear. It applies to the situation in Canada. By talking about it, The Narwhal’s journalist has opened the door for discussion. She presented the reader with various information that an engaged Canadian can relate to: scientist facts, true stories, images from a bird shelter, economic impacts, shocking facts on agriculture and fishing, etc. Her message gets better chances to spark thoughts and action following Hayhoe’s theory.<\/p>\n
\nThe strengths<\/strong>
\nWe learned that storytelling is a powerful tool. “Story is a basic foundation of all human learning and teaching” (Iseke, 2013). Cruickshank applied this technique and gave voice to the people. She asked the less fortunate how the hot days felt and shared their stories to support her statements that climate changes impact people. The different stories show how vulnerable some populations are. The images used do create an impact as well: the reader can recognize marginalized people and even experience the sadness of the situation just by looking at them.
\nThe ecological project includes four key approaches. It’s an invitation to do more and a multi-directional tool. Hodson (2019) mentioned that empowerment could help prevent message fatigue from the readers. He mentioned the timeliness and the influencers sharing the message (called currency) have a positive impact on communication: it applies well to this article in regards to a time when most Canadians experienced a dry and hot summer. The author is also recognized as a BC environmentalist influencer. Hodson talked about personalization as a way to communicate efficiently. Cruickshank showed that she knows her audience by using technical words at the beginning of the text without the fear of losing people; she trusts her platform and that the audience will commit until the end. Community values are another key element of the ecological project and the technique is well done here. “Whenever possible demonstrate the preferred behavior and attitude change as a social norm” is exactly what the author does. By including solutions in her article, the journalist showcased people who lead by example. She mentioned the letter sent to the government and signed by 39 community organizations and shared the recommendations of the Vancouver City Planning Commission: she engaged the audience in finding a concrete way to join a movement. The last key element of this technique is trust. Hodson’s study found that an effective partner who brings trust like NGOs is useful for sharing climate messaging. In this article, Cruickshank shared the voices of experts to add prestige to her words. It is clever to add stats and facts from the United Nations; it shows the importance of the issue. Her reference to the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium makes it relevant for the audience that knows this group and its work at a provincial level. It adds credibility and trust to the article.<\/p>\n
\nThe Narwhal promotes its engagement for creating space for Indigenous voices but it is not demonstrated here. The author mentioned the impact of climate change on salmon which is a crucial resource for Indigenous communities. It would have been meaningful to get their input and point of view on the situation. This missing part relates to the technique of narratives: an indigenous person (knowledge holder) could have shared how life used to be 25 years ago compared to now to add some deep thinking information for the readers. Like Iseke (2013) genuinely summarized:” Indigenous storytelling pedagogies encourage broader understandings of identity, community, culture, and relations.”<\/p>\n
\nIn general, I enjoyed the Cruickshank piece for its information and communication style. I learned a lot by analyzing the techniques and would try to use them when I need to communicate around climate change. I hope to see more articles of this quality in the news.<\/p>\n
\nCruickshank, A. (2021, August 24). B.C.\u2019s extreme heat is here to stay. Critics say government\u2019s plan to deal with it is dangerously weak. The Narwhal. https:\/\/thenarwhal.ca\/bc-heat-climate-adaptation\/<\/p>\n
\nHodson, J.(2019). An ecological model of climate marketing: A conceptual framework for understanding climate science related attitude and behavior change. Cogent Social Sciences. DOI: 10.1080\/23311886.2019.1625101<\/p>\n