scholarly journals Advocacy for Sustainability Communication. Unseen Potential of Queer Communicators in Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainability Science

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 13871
Author(s):  
Franzisca Weder ◽  
Swastika Samanta
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Digital Publishing ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
The Media ◽  
Explorative Interviews

The story of climate change, of destruction and loss, is well represented in mass media around natural hazards and new scientific data (i.e., the newest IPCC report); in contrast, new concepts of restoration, eco-cultural identities, social change and sustainable development are not picked up in public discourses—similarly to how the voices of NGO communicators, activists or queer communicators are not heard in the media. Additionally, the growth of digital publishing technologies and related audience behavior not only influence public communication processes, but also challenge professional communicators, including journalists and PR professionals to scientists, artists and activists. With a series of explorative interviews in different cultural settings (Central Europe, Australia, New Zealand), we can show that queer communicators have the potential to cultivate a new understanding of sustainability communication as social conversation about sustainability, and thus, overcome the very visible old story about climate change and rather propagate the new story of sustainability and transformation. The interviews show that queer communicator advocacy focuses on mobilizing and initiating dialectic conversations, which includes community building and queering existing norms, thus choosing new pathways for communication for sustainability. The findings and the developed concept of advocacy for sustainability communication are discussed at the end of the paper, including a reflection on the limitations of the explorative character of the analysis and future research potential.

scholarly journals A Change in the Climate: New Interpretations and Perceptions of Climate Change through Artistic Interventions and Representations

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 294-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Duxbury
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Media ◽  
Artistic Interventions ◽  
General Populations ◽  
Changing World

Abstract The uncertainties concerning climate change debated daily in the media polarize political leaders and the general public alike. While daily weather is something that can be experienced by everyone and changes in the weather can be accounted for within the timeframe of a human lifetime, climate change is more difficult to comprehend or connect with in an appreciable way because of its remoteness in time and unpredictability. General populations can be alienated by the overwhelming proliferation of scientific data and statistics and, in the face of potentially cataclysmic events, feel paralyzed and incapable of action. Scientific evidence alone may not be working to encourage or initiate changes in behaviors with the potential to curtail the perceived changes to life as we know it. This paper sets out to explicate alternative ways of comprehending and addressing some of the complex problems of climate change through art by focusing on the ways people perceive and sense the changing world around them. It contends that artists have the potential to engage society in emotional and experiential ways to promote behavioral and cognitive change. Drawing on the work of certain artists and art commentators, this paper argues that, far from being a purely imaginative or aesthetic activity, art is integral to meaningful communication between humans and the changing world.

scholarly journals Climate Change: Risky Business?

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 1043
Author(s):  
Lara E. Lázaro Touza ◽  
Michel S. Zoghby
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Tail Events ◽  
Environmentally Sound ◽  
Insurance Decisions ◽  
Risky Business

The recently released IPCC report states that climate change is unequivocal, unprecedented and anthropogenic in origin. Climate change is a three-pronged global externality with environmental, socio-economic and political consequences.. It may unleash ‘catastrophic’ losses in welfare if tipping points are crossed. Actions to avert catastrophic outcomes should arguably resemble insurance decisions rather than investment decisions. Early recommendations from the economics community on a climate policy ramp have been partially upended by stronger calls for action based, inter alia, on severe tail events. Efforts by the international community to respond to more urgent calls for action have so far failed to materialise. Future research on severe tail events, environmentally sound technologies and the establishment of more acceptable burden sharing agreements may improve the current grim prospects for effective and efficient climate action.

scholarly journals Communication, Negotiation, and Influence at International Climate Change Meetings and Summits

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Wessler ◽  
Julia Lück ◽  
Antal Wozniak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Production Environment ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

The annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences, officially called Conferences of the Parties (COPs), are the main drivers of media attention to climate change around the world. Even more so than the Rio and Rio+20 “Earth Summits” (1992 and 2012) and the meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the COPs offer multiple access points for the communicative engagement of all kinds of stakeholders. COPs convene up to 20,000 people in one place for two weeks, including national delegations, civil society and business representatives, scientific organizations, representatives from other international organizations, as well as journalists from around the world. While intergovernmental negotiation under the auspices of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) constitutes the core of COP business, these multifunctional events also offer arenas for civil society mobilization, economic lobbying, as well as expert communication and knowledge transfer. The media image of the COPs emerges as a product of distinct networks of coproduction constituted by journalists, professional communicators from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and national delegations. Production structures at the COPs are relatively globalized with uniform access rules for journalists from all over the world, a few transnational news agencies dominating distribution of both basic information and news visuals, and dense localized interaction between public relations (PR) professionals and journalists. Photo opportunities created by globally coordinated environmental NGOs meet the selection of journalists much better than the visual strategies pursued by delegation spokespeople. This gives NGOs the upper hand in the visual framing contest, whereas in textual framing NGOs are sidelined and national politicians clearly dominate media coverage. The globalized production environment leads to relatively similar patterns of basic news framing in national media coverage of the COPs that reflect overarching ways of approaching the topic: through a focus on problems and victims; a perspective on civil society demands and solutions; an emphasis on conflict in negotiations; or a focus on the benefits of clean energy production. News narratives, on the other hand, give journalists from different countries more leeway in adapting COP news to national audiences’ presumed interests and preoccupations. Even after the adoption of a new global treaty at COP21 in Paris in 2015 that specifies emission reduction targets for all participating countries, the annual UN Climate Change Conferences are likely to remain in the media spotlight. Future research could look more systematically at the impact of global civil society and media in monitoring the national contributions to climate change mitigation introduced in the Paris Agreement and shoring up even more ambitious commitments needed to reach the goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius as compared to pre-industrial levels.

Media Coverage of International Climate Summits and Negotiations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Wolling ◽  
Dorothee Arlt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Political Character

The annual climate summits (Conferences of the Parties, or COPs) are major political events that receive considerable media attention. In this way, the topic of climate change returns regularly to both the media and the political agenda. It makes sense, therefore, that communication research regards COPs as occasion to investigating how the media cover climate change. Nevertheless, this strategy has two shortcomings: On the one hand the focus on the conferences might provide a distorted picture—because of the political character of the conferences, the role of political actors and policy-related frames might be overestimated. On the other hand, the political character of the conferences is not always considered appropriately. Most research is mainly interested in the coverage on climate change in the context of the conferences and not in the political discussions taking place at the summits. Future research should address these discussions more intensively, giving more attention especially to the debates in the various online media.

scholarly journals Climate Change Adaptation Influences and Barriers Impacting the Asian Agricultural Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7346
Author(s):  
Thu-Huong Nguyen ◽  
Oz Sahin ◽  
Michael Howes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Agricultural Industry ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Barriers To Change ◽  
Financial Options

There has been an increasing interest among scholars regarding the impacts of climate change on agriculture and possible adaptation strategies for farmers. Little attention has been paid, however, to reviewing adaptation initiatives amongst farmers in Asia. This article fills this knowledge gap by examining the current literature on Asian farmers’ perception of climate change, their adaptation strategies, key factors influencing their choices, and the barriers to change. A systematic quantitative literature review is undertaken of 48 papers taken from a range of sources. The review indicates that farmers’ perceptions of climate change have been consistent with the scientific data. It further identifies farmers’ adaptation strategies with regards to soil conservation, water management and land use changes. The review shows numerous factors influencing, and barriers impacting, farmers’ ability to adapt. Influencing factors were analysed and categorised into five groups: cognitive, demographic, social-economic, resources, and institutional. Barriers hampering their adaptive capacity were identified as: a lack of access to information, a lack of access to extension services, limited awareness and knowledge, and limited financial options. The review finishes with some recommendations for future research.

Climate Change Communication in Hong Kong and Taiwan

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsung-Jen Shih
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Carbon Reduction ◽  
The Media ◽  
Reduce Carbon Emission ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
Laws And Policies

Taiwan and Hong Kong are similar in their determination to combat climate change. Not only have they set up objectives about carbon emission reduction, but they also have actively enacted laws and policies to achieve these goals. However, the public is not considered to play an important role in policymaking in either Taiwan or Hong Kong. On the other hand, these two regions differ in several aspects about how and why they are addressing this issue. First, Taiwan’s efforts to reduce carbon emission are voluntary, with the goal of gaining international recognition, whereas Hong Kong is obliged to engage in carbon reduction due to its subordinate status to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Second, while Taiwan is trying to reduce its reliance on nuclear power as an energy source, Hong Kong sees it as a useful way to cut down carbon emissions. Third, Taiwan has established new, specialized governmental institutions to integrate resources, whereas efforts taken by Hong Kong mainly revolve around existing government agencies. In terms of public opinion about climate change, the Taiwanese are much more concerned about the issue and know more about it than their counterparts in Hong Kong. Finally, the media in Taiwan pay more attention to climate change than the media in Hong Kong. This article suggests potential directions for future research in this area.

scholarly journals The Dynamics of Communication in the Context of Relations and Events Performed on Stage

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Iva Rosanda Žigo
Keyword(s):  
Media Theory ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
The Core ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
The Media ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
Different Levels

This paper discusses communication processes in the context of performative arts and focuses on staged events as communicative events which disperse messages across different levels and in different directions in order to construct meanings in a multi-layered way, to include artistic, ideological, political and other dimensions. The core issue is the role of the director as the motivating and organizing stance of all the processes that evolve on stage. The modalities of organizing theatrical acts intertwine as the process of directing unfolds, stage after stage, and the ultimate goal to reach the audience needs to be kept in focus the entire time. It is possible to distinguish four such stages mediated specifically by directing itself. Organization of events to be set on the stage and sustained by strategies of communication starts with the abandonment of the literary template, with the articulation of the theatrical concept. The next stage is described in terms of a confrontation between the text and the performance (mise-en-scène), to be followed by the semiotic elaboration of signs which are structured and manipulated with in accordance with a specific directorial concept. Finally, the fourth stage is about creating a meta-text, and at this level, the directed communication connects with current social, political and cultural issues that provide the context to the theatrical expression. This paper provides an overview of most relevant views on this subject excerpted from the field of semiotics and from the theory of theatre communication, and it provides arguments for drawing this area of research into the broader context of the media theory, also announcing future research to pursue this direction of thought.

New Territories of Positive Life-Span Development: Wisdom and Life Longings

2009 ◽  
pp. 170-184
Author(s):  
Susanne Scheibe ◽  
Ute Kunzmann ◽  
Paul B. Baltes
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Life Span Development ◽  
Life Orientation ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
The Life Course

In search for concepts that help understand how individuals strive for growth and perfection within the boundaries and constraints of human lives, we describe theory and research on the concepts of wisdom, or expert knowledge about human nature and the life course, and Sehnsucht (life longings), the recurring and strong desire for ideal (utopian), alternative states and expressions of life. Both represent relatively new concepts on the agenda of lifespan research, originating from an interest in identifying major topics of public and humanist discourse about the potentials and constraints of life-span development and finding ways to measure them with the methods of normative psychological science. Despite their complexity and multiple meanings, progress has been made in the theory-driven operationalization of wisdom and life longings, allowing new insights into their ontogenesis and role for positive development. Emerging research shows that wisdom and life longings do not directly promote a hedonic life orientation or happiness: neither the insight that life is incomplete (wisdom) nor the experience of this incompleteness (life longings) is compatible with feelings of unequivocal joy and pleasure. Yet, there is emerging evidence that they contribute to other aspects of positive development, emphasizing personal growth, meaning, and the aligning of one's own and other's well-being. We suggest that future research should focus on the links of wisdom and life longings with multiple developmental outcomes and the possible interplay of both concepts in promoting positive development.

A Downward Spiral? A Panel Study of Misinformation and Media Trust in Chile

2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110252
Author(s):  
Sebastián Valenzuela ◽  
Daniel Halpern ◽  
Felipe Araneda
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Downward Spiral ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Trust ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Over Time

Despite widespread concern, research on the consequences of misinformation on people's attitudes is surprisingly scant. To fill in this gap, the current study examines the long-term relationship between misinformation and trust in the news media. Based on the reinforcing spirals model, we analyzed data from a three-wave panel survey collected in Chile between 2017 and 2019. We found a weak, over-time relationship between misinformation and media skepticism. Specifically, initial beliefs on factually dubious information were negatively correlated with subsequent levels of trust in the news media. Lower trust in the media, in turn, was related over time to higher levels of misinformation. However, we found no evidence of a reverse, parallel process where media trust shielded users against misinformation, further reinforcing trust in the news media. The lack of evidence of a downward spiral suggests that the corrosive effects of misinformation on attitudes toward the news media are less serious than originally suggested. We close with a discussion of directions for future research.

Twitter Users’ Displays of Affect in the Global Warming Debate

2021 ◽  
pp. 004728162110078
Author(s):  
Shanna Cameron ◽  
Alexandra Russell ◽  
Luke Brake ◽  
Katherine Fredlund ◽  
Angela Morris
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Technical Communication ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Twitter Users

This article engages with recent discussions in the field of technical communication that call for climate change research that moves beyond the believer/denier dichotomy. For this study, our research team coded 900 tweets about climate change and global warming for different emotions in order to understand how Twitter users rely on affect rhetorically. Our findings use quantitative content analysis to challenge current assumptions about writing and affect on social media, and our results indicate a number of arenas for future research on affect, global warming, and rhetoric.

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