Today a great focus is placed on consumer’s choices and how those affect climate change and global warming. At the same time, messages about the climate crisis and mass extinction are circulating in the public. A lot of the responsibility for making better and more educated choices in order to reverse climate change is being placed on the individual and their actions. This can trigger a sense of helplessness or even increase psychological resistance. In climate- and sustainability communication there is often the assumption that people lack knowledge and are therefore unable to change their attitudes or behaviours. Many people arethough aware of climate change and the ways it affects our lives and future. There is however a gap between our green intentions and our current actions– the so-called, green gap. Climate- and sustainability communication are limited in how much they can achieve on their own. Political action and engagement is therefore a crucial part of communicating climate change and influencing the public’s knowledge, attitude and perception.

Adaptation to climate change is becoming an pertinent issue, as climate change mitigation options have not been implemented to asufficient degree.  The impacts of climate change will have to be dealt with by various stakeholders including the insurance industry and homeowners.  These stakeholders, also including the scientific community, need to work together in order to distribute climate change information in a manner that enables homeowners to become part of the climate change discussion.  This study discusses the use of web-based climate visualization platforms and the perception of the users of these platforms through focus group studies.    By analyzing six web-based climate visualizations through content analysis and then having five focus groups analyze two web-based climate visualization platforms, Caladapt and Plan2Adapt, the study aims to determine how users of web-based climate visualization platforms perceive the platforms, tools and visual representations presented to them and what additional information and components should be included.   The overall analysis determined that adaptation information is not adequately communicated within any of the examined platforms. Rather than vulnerability or adaptation, the effects of climate change were represented as 2D maps and graph visual representations.  Participants found this information to be secondary information since it did not interest or seem relevant to the users.  As homeowners, participants did not want to have to analyze or interpret data rather they wanted usable information that they could apply if they felt it was valid and applied to their situation.  The study presents many aspects that could be applied to future web-based visualization platforms.

Föreliggande studie ämnade att undersöka om den utopiska dokumentärserien Down to Earth with Zac Efron, vars syfte är att inspirera till engagemang för klimatkrisen, förmedlar motsägelsefulla budskap i form av ojämlika maktförhållanden mellan människa och natur samt mellan människor. Tidigare studier på i huvudsak dystopisk miljöinriktad Hollywoodfilm, samt till viss del dokumentärer, har visat att dominanta förhållanden ofta förekommer. Det, liksom den växande debatten om populärkulturens potential i att förmedla kunskap om klimatkrisen och dess bidrag till formandet av samhälleliga attityder, klimatforskares betoning på vikten av social hållbarhet för att lösa den samt trenden med hoppfull klimatkommunikation motiverade behovet av studien. För att identifiera maktförhållanden över natur och människor tog analysen stöd från ekokritisk teori och intersektionalitetsteori. Med hjälp av verktyg från multimodal kritisk diskursanalys och filmanalys undersöktes meningsskapandet mellan text och bild på detaljnivå. Efter utförd analys av dokumentärseriens avsnitt Iceland och Costa Rica har ojämlika maktförhållanden gentemot natur och människor identifierats, med störst betoning på avsaknaden av socialekologiska perspektiv. Slutsatsen grundar sig i den amerikanisering som präglar innehållet, exkluderingen av underrepresenterade grupper och att huvudkaraktären Zac Efron, och delvis kollegan Darin Olien, gestaltas som stereotypa vita män. Även om ekocentriska tankesätt delvis är närvarande, bekräftade bristen på inkludering av social hållbarhet dokumentärseriens misslyckande som en effektiv kunskapskälla till förståelsen av klimatkrisens samtliga delar. / The following study aimed to investigate whether the utopian documentary series Down to Earth with Zac Efron, with the goal to inspire for commitment to the climate crisis, conveys contradictory messages in the form of unequal power relations between humans and nature as well as between people. Previous studies on mainly dystopian environmentally oriented Hollywood films, and to some extent documentaries, have shown that dominant relationships often occur. Together with the growing debate about the potential of popular culture in conveying knowledge about the climate crisis and its contribution to formation of societal attitudes, climate scientists’ emphasis on the importance of social sustainability to solve it and the trend of hopeful climate communication, the need for the study was motivated. In order to identify power relations over nature and people, the analysis was supported by ecocriticism and intersectionality theory. Using a multimodal critical discourse analysis and film analysis, the creation of meaning between text and image was examined at a detailed level. After an analysis of the episodes Iceland and Costa Rica, unequal power relations towards nature and people have been identified with the greatest emphasis on the lack of social ecological perspectives. The conclusion is based on the Americanization that characterizes the content, the exclusion of underrepresented groups and the portrayal of the main character Zac Efron, and partly his colleague Darin Olien, as stereotypical white men. Although ecocentric mindsets are partly present, the lack of inclusion of social sustainability confirms the failure of the documentary series as an effective source of knowledge for understanding all elements of the climate crisis.

<p>In this thesis, I investigate the effects of social and political context on the process and outcomes of science communication in two different settings, using Dietram Scheufele’s interpretation of science communication as political communication. </p> <p>In the first setting, I examine the communication of climate tipping points at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) using 26 semi-structured interviews and 271 surveys administered to members of the UNFCCC policy community. Survey results revealed that only a small minority (14.3%) of policymakers defined climate tipping points consistently with the scientific community. Interview responses revealed that many policymakers believed they were not responsible for incorporating new scientific advice into their work on negotiations, and that this was the responsibility of scientists. Scientists interviewed expressed frustration that policymakers were not willing to hear scientific information they saw as irrelevant to their work on the negotiations. Policymakers responding to interviews were also unwilling to defy social norms by introducing a topic they saw as “complicated” into negotiations. Interview respondents who believed climate tipping points should be discussed within formal negotiations also noted that they interpreted the effects of climate change as temporally or spatially immediate to themselves. </p> <p>In the second setting, I examine how the United States print media incorporated discussion of climate change into coverage of the 2017 hurricane season via a content analysis of hurricane coverage in six major US newspapers. Conservative papers and liberal papers displayed significant differences in frequency and directness of references to climate change, as well as a significant difference in the references to climate denial messages, climate consensus messages, and use of proximity cues. However, the conservative paper near a 2017 hurricane consistently displayed significant differences in coverage from the other conservative papers. This paper frequently used social norms in messaging to shift narratives of acceptability of climate change discussion among conservatives. Both conservative and liberal papers near a 2017 hurricane used proximity cues to indicate the effects of climate change are both physically and temporally near at greater rates than elite and regional papers not near a 2017 hurricane.</p> <p>Taken together, these results reveal that three major factors influenced climate change communication in these two settings. First, power to define direction and content of science communication explains the lack of communication about climate tipping points at the UNFCCC. Policymakers’ hold legitimate power over science communication. This power is codified within UNFCCC structure. Policymakers’ expert power is also interpreted as more relevant to negotiations processes than scientists’ expert power; meaning policymakers are free to define what information is “policy relevant” and therefore, what is communicated. Second, social norms influenced how and whether communication occurred. Social norms prohibiting behavior disruptive to consensus building influenced policymaker definitions of “policy relevant.” Social norms among US conservatives prohibiting serious discussion of climate tipping points were also apparent. Finally, perceptions of climate change as immediate and nearby seemed related to willingness to defy social norms around climate change communication. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

Att hantera konsekvenserna av klimatförändringarna är en av mänsklighetens störstautmaningar. Forskare, förespråkare och andra aktörer har länge försökt kommunicera tillallmänheten om klimatförändringar, men det tycks vara svårare än väntat. En paradox haruppstått som innebär att ju mer fakta som presenteras, desto mindre oro. Ett tydligt exempelpå var och hur det kan komma till uttryck är i medier. Ytterligare en global utmaning är denpågående covid-19-pandemin. I ett tidigt skede observerade vi att medierapporteringen påolika sätt började koppla samman covid-19-pandemin med klimatförändringarna. Syftet meddenna studie är att undersöka hur klimatkommunikationen tar sig uttryck under covid-19-pandemin via debattartiklar. Metoden för undersökningen var en latent innehållsanalys ochresultatet analyserades med hjälp av Per Espen Stoknes modell om de fem psykologiskabarriärerna samt teori om strategier inom klimatkommunikation. Resultatet visar attklimatkommunikationen uttrycktes på olika sätt genom både barriärer och strategier, men attkommunikationen till överhängande del uttrycktes genom strategier. Studien kan ökaförståelsen för hur klimatförändringar kan kommuniceras för att skapa klimatengagemangoch kan därmed fungera som en språngbräda för fortsatt forskning. / Dealing with the consequences of climate change is one of humanity's greatest challenges.Researchers, advocates and other actors have long tried to communicate to the public aboutclimate change, but it seems to be more difficult than expected. A paradox has arisen whichmeans that the more facts that are presented, the less concern. A clear example of where andhow it can be expressed is in the media. Another global challenge is the ongoing covid-19pandemic. At an early stage, we began to observe how different types of media started to linkthe covid-19 pandemic to climate change. Based on the background of climatecommunication and this observation, the purpose of this study is to investigate how climatecommunication is expressed during the covid-19 pandemic via debate articles. A latentcontent analysis was performed and the results was analyzed with Per Espen Stoknes modelon the five psychological barriers and theory on strategies in climate communication. Theresults show that climate communication was expressed in different ways through bothbarriers and strategies, but mainly through strategies. The study can further increase theunderstanding of how climate change can be communicated to create climate commitmentand can thus serve as a springboard for further research.

The design project examines collaboratively what transformative climate-communication can look like, and whether conversations can be a possible form of activism. Stemming from a concern that extreme forms of activism and their depiction in media have the potential to highly polarize civil society, the project explores the navigation and negotiation of spaces of communication and interaction in empathetic and connective ways. In the project I look at conversations as an additional or alternative way to disruptive protest forms of activism, within the non-violent liberal civil-disobedience movement and explore how to design for empathy and agency in the context of facilitating and curating spaces, tools and methods. The project recognizes the importance of conversations in the context of shaping opinions, changing perspectives and influencing behavior, and thus their relevance in the context of mitigating and communicating the climate emergency. During the project different conversation tools and methods have been designed, tested and developed in the framework of several gatherings.

This thesis deals with the analysis of systems of communication and motivation in a particular business entity. The aim of the thesis entitled: communication and motivation of internal change, the analysis of internal climate in a particular business entity with a focus on motivation and communication systems. A sub-goal is to assess the impact of these systems for the creation of internal change and evaluation of corporate culture. The thesis includes a survey focusing on internal climate with a closer focus on the communication and motivation.

No description available.

Antropogena klimatförändringar, förkortat AK, är ett av nutidens stora miljöproblem. För att hantera AK är människors motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt viktigt, eftersom avsaknad motivation och intention att adressera AK kan bringa negativa konsekvenser för samhället. Individers motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt kan influeras av framing, vilket syftar till att betona specifika delar av verkligheten. Vilken framing som används kan vara avgörande ifall individer agerar klimatvänligt eller inte. Den konventionella framing som dominerar samhället grundas i att betona fakta och de negativa effekterna av AK. AK framställs som en inkräktande katastrof vilken bör hanteras via uppoffringar, förluster och kostnader. Konventionella klimatkommunikationen kan leda till passivitet hos individer och en önskan att undvika ämnet. Eftersom motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt är betydande uppstår behovet att skapa en icke-konventionell framing som tar människors psykologiska barriärer i åtanke. Syftet med studien var att applicera Stoknes (2015) teori om de fem psykologiska barriärerna som hindrar en effektiv klimatkommunikation och hur dessa barriärer kan tas i åtanke för att uppnå en mer effektiv klimatkommunikation. Två olika framing alternativ i form av berättelser var fokus för studien. Frågeställningen var: Hur påverkar konventionell respektive icke-konventionell framing individers motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt? För att testa berättelserna utfördes ett kontrollerat experiment och en sluten enkät utgjorde mätinstrument för att kvantifiera motivation och intention. Data från enkäten analyserades med Mann-Whitney U test och Cohen’s d test. En viss ökning av motivation och intention ägde rum, men det fanns inte en statistisk signifikant skillnad i motivation och intention att agera klimatvänligt efter deltagarna utsatts för en berättelse. Data antyder förändringar i motivation och intention skett för gruppen som tog del av icke-konventionella framing alternativet, och därmed bör fortsättningsstudier genomföras med normalfördelad population av betydligt större skala. Vidare kan potentiellt en annan vetenskapsteoretisk utgångspunkt nyttjas, specifikt flermetodsforskning. / Anthropogenic climate change, abbreviated ACC, is a major environmental problem. People’s motivation and intention to act climate-friendly is important in addressing ACC since lacking motivation and intention to address ACC can have dire consequences for society and the environment. Individuals’ motivation and intention to act climate-friendly can be influenced by framing, which refers to the practice of emphasizing certain aspects of reality. What type of framing is being utilized can be crucial regarding individuals acting climate-friendly. The conventional framing dominating society is based on emphasizing facts and negative consequences of ACC. ACC is portrayed as an encroaching disaster managed via sacrifices, losses, and costs. However, this can lead to passivity and a desire to avoid the topic. Since motivation and intention to act climate-friendly is important, the need for a non-conventional framing arises. The study's purpose was to create a framing that took psychological barriers into account based on Stoknes (2015) theories regarding climate communication and to investigate how it affected motivation and intention to act climate-friendly. The research question was: How do conventional framing and non-conventional framing affect individuals’ motivation and intention to act climate-friendly? Two framing alternatives made up of stories about ACC were tested during a controlled experiment, and motivation and intention were quantified utilizing a closed-ended questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Cohen’s d test. A slight increase in motivation and intention was measured, but no statistically significant difference existed in motivation and intention to act climate-friendly after the participants had been subjected to a framing alternative. Data suggests changes in motivation and intention to act climate-friendly occurred for the group subjected to the non-conventional framing, and thus further research should be conducted with a normally distributed population of a significantly larger scale. Furthermore, future studies could pursue mixed methods research.