Most people don’t hear enough about climate change. For example, 66% of Americans hear about climate change in the media once a month or even less. The more often people hear about climate, and the more diverse the trusted sources they hear from, the stronger the message becomes. But climate change is complex, abstract, and potentially divisive issue. How can we communicate about it in a way that overcomes these barriers?

Rare, an international NGO specializing in social change for the environment, partnered with the Behavioural Insights Team and the Potential Energy Coalition to create a science-based resource to improve the effectiveness of what you’re aiming to convey. Join our workshop to learn how to apply the 8 Principles when communicating about climate change!

This workshop will explore the value and meaning of sound-based environmental storytelling—and approaches to creating this work. Fundamentally, this effort is based on the belief that if you can change the way people listen to the world—to connect more fully and openly with diverse natural ecosystems—we can change the world.

The workshop will both explore a variety of soundscapes and related stories, as well as create the opportunity to share recorded sounds and develop ideas for stories you can produce yourself. The workshop will draw on the project “Sounds of Belonging,” for which Indigenous and other storyteller share sounds and stories about places that have meaning for them. It will led by Steven Beschloss, director of the Narrative Storytelling Initiative at Arizona State University, narratives lead of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, and a professor of practice in ASU’s College of Global Futures and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Participants are invited to record 1-2 minutes of sound prior to attending that can be shared during the workshop. This may be connected to a place of meaning for you.

Before producing a video or writing a story, all creators must consider how to pitch their ideas. What are the aspects of an effective pitch for op-eds? Which outlets should you consider? How can you structure stories to be creative and insightful? Facilitated by environmental editors, this workshop offers activities to answer these questions. Please come to this workshop with a pitch idea, as the goal is to have a ready-to-submit pitch by the end!

This workshop explores the use of climate fiction and film (cli fi) as a tool for generating new understandings of the ecological and social impacts of global climate change, as well as for helping students to become more effective climate communicators. Attendees will learn a little about the genre, explore how we use cli fi in our interdisciplinary team-taught course, and try out a simple cli fi writing activity for themselves.