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Communication medley: lessons from Lady Gaga
In this week's round up: complicated polling on climate opinions, the so-called 'climate pause' is actually a success story, lessons for communicators from Lady Gaga, indigenous leaders abandon faith in the UN, PLUS - can museums advance action AND enhance experience? If you’re a science communicator or educator at an informal science center (such as a zoo, aquarium, or museum) trying to encourage conservation action – this is the round up for you! Every week we break down the most interesting recent news and best resources to help you frame the issues as effectively as possible. Some of these resources will be practical communications and framing tips, and others are great starting points for brainstorming future strategies. Jump to... US opinion on climate is complicated We can advocate and facilitate at museums Making change - personally and politically Good news on US opinion - sort of A few new polls were released this week that show just how complex the state of climate opinion is in the US. A study by Stanford University social psychologist Jon Krosnick found 75% of Americans acknowledge the existence of climate change and at least two-thirds of the population believes greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. businesses should be regulated. Even in Republican majority states! However a Pew survey shows that, comparatively, the US lags behind the rest of the world in our approach to climate. Some numbers from that survey: 67% of Americans believe there is solid evidence of global warming 44% of them blame it on human activity a median of 54% or more of publics in Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa saw global warming as a major threat to their countries The only region in the spring survey where public concern about climate change as a danger was as low as in the U.S. was the Middle East (42%) Facilitator or advocate? BOTH! Center for the Future of Museums: Choosing Roles: Can we advance action AND enhance experience? "Would you rather be loved, or would you rather save the world?" Douglas Myer says "no need to choose!" Our communications research shows that not only do informal science center visitors want information on how they can help the environment, they expect and appreciate it. What Can Climate Scientists Learn from Lady Gaga? Sightline gives the short and sweet version of Joe Romm's handbook for communicators. The book is about rhetoric, and I highly recommend it for those who write on the web. Lots of good, age-old but evergreen tips on sticky messages. More thoughts A mixed bag of interesting reading. Look What's Slowing Down Global Warming This cool story is an antidote for that helpless feeling that can come from thinking about the vast challenge of climate change. Remember that global warming "hiatus" that had people abuzz recently? Turns out it was probably because 40 countries signed the Montreal Protocol back in 1988 - agreeing to phase out ozone killing gases like chlorofluorocarbons. CFCs also trap heat in the atmosphere, so getting rid of them resulted in a little less warming than there would have been otherwise. Worlds apart: Indigenous leaders abandon faith in UN to find climate solution I really enjoyed reading this story about indigenous leaders who are fed up with UN climate talks. They have an interesting message of personal action and responsibility that I think will resonate with a lot of people.
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Seas the Day in July – Eating for a Better World
The Seas the Day initiative encourages and empowers people…
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Weekly Round-up: Youth are takin’ it to the tweets
In the round up this week: young people are…
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A story in keeping with the power of story
More than 50 zoo, aquarium and museum professionals woke up early this morning, with many waiting in what may have been the world's slowest Starbucks line, in order to attend a session at the annual meeting of the American Alliance of Museums that centered on the application of The Ocean Project's message research at three partner institutions. The session, "Understanding Museum Audiences, Inspiring Public Engagement and Environmental Stewardship," was very much in keeping with the meeting's theme, "The Power of Story." After I provided a brief overview of the research, attentions turned to Mark Swingle of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, Sandra Pitts of the Fresno Chaffee Zoo and Wei Ying Wong of the Philadelphia Zoo, who each offered an example of how their institutions have been incorporating some of the findings into their priorities and programs. Mark presented the positive results of a pilot project his aquarium implemented around the idea that visitors would welcome information about how they could help conserve the ocean, in this case by reducing litter and increasing recycling so as to help address the problem of marine debris. Sandra relayed an equally positive experience, though in her case it was related to the research finding about the importance of engaging youth, including, specifically, youth from ESL (English-as-a-second-language) households. And last but not least, Wei Ying picked up the latter topic to talk about current and future efforts to reach a more diverse audience at the Philadelphia Zoo, emphasizing that this was not only the right thing to do, but good for the institution too. A theme within the Q&A that followed was the importance of sharing successes and lessons learned, and I know Mark, Sandy, Wei Ying and I all hope that our session was a step in this direction, and I look forward to learning more from others as the conference continues. Copies of the presentations, as well as, we're told, a complete audio recording of the session, soon will be available at the meeting website. If you attended the session we'd love to hear what you thought.
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Taking the dive II – Conservation ‘asks’ as a collaborative learning process
This is a cross-post from the World Oceans Day blog; part II in our series of posts about World Oceans Day events at zoos, aquariums, museums, and other visitor-serving organizations. Thanks to Lindzy Bivings of California Academy of Sciences for her insight and time editing this post. One of our partners provides a great example of a daring – but informed – charge into making "asks." California Academy of Sciences' Institute on Conservation Education & Sustainability (ICES) program, led by Lindzy Bivings, has taken an exciting approach to experimenting with developing and deploying conservation asks. ICES recently completed a 12-week pilot of their professional learning program, which is exploratory and collaborative. Educators at the facility focused on learning what they could from the literature on best practices in the field, then worked together to develop conservation education goals, and entered a rapid prototyping process where they quickly evaluated and altered on-the-ground tactics in response to interactions with guests. By working together, and being undeterred by the lack of a concrete framework, the participants made some great discoveries about what contributes to an effective ask. Lessons Learned Here are some tips shared by Lindzy Bivings which may assist you in making your own asks: 1. Do separate formative assessments to get a sense of visitors’ current knowledge and engagement. This will help identify what the visitors already know about an issue, and what they perceive as barriers and benefits to an action. 2. One-on-one or small group asks work best. A one-size-fits-all approach often doesn’t work, so have a few ways for people to quickly take action few asks up your sleeves so you can customize the solution as much as possible. 3.) Focus special events and asks on specific populations. Lindzy says: “For example, if we’re working with residents from San Francisco, we very rarely talk about plastic bag issues, because we have a plastic bag ban in the city. Likewise, if its folks from our Bayview District, we don’t spend too much time on how to use the city’s composting system because the housing projects in that area don’t get composting bins.” 4.) Allow visitors to participate in developing the ask, and making the commitment that’s right for their level of engagement/ability. When visitors partially persuade themselves, they are more likely to follow through. The ICES program was fairly large, about 20 educators participated in their pilot program, but the lessons they’ve learned are also applicable on a smaller scale. By treating making asks as an experimental learning process, institutions can begin a low-investment exploration into making high-impact asks in the future. 5.) Use cardboard and duct tape. Don’t be a perfectionist at first. There’s nothing more disappointing than spending hours upon hours on something only to discover that it doesn’t work. Exhibit developers know this, and so should educators. For help, check out Office Supply Ninja. Further reading: Be sure to check out The Ocean Project’s series on asking visitors to act for conservation by Douglas Meyer, and feel free to contact us for more information.
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Weekly Round Up: tis the season for energy polls
If you’re a science communicator or educator at an…
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Weekly Comm. Round Up: cheap coal causes pricey illness
Happy International Women’s Day! This week we have articles about…
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