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Planet Now
Blog on Effective Environmental Communication
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Like many young adults, I enjoy taking personality tests. What can they teach us about communication to help the environment? The Enneagram is one personality test that can provide insight about the types of messages that resonate with us and other people.
The Enneagram system categorizes people into nine personality types based on their worldviews and emotions. The lines in the chart below connect each Enneagram type to two other types that represent how they act when they are experiencing personal growth or stress. For example, a person who is an Achiever becomes like a Loyalist when growing and becomes like a Peacemaker when stressed. Learn more about Enneagram types here. It is not necessary to understand all the details of the Enneagram to use it as a communication tool. The important part is that these personality categories show there are many ways for people to think, so different messages will motivate people to protect the environment. The Enneagram could be beneficial if you plan to communicate about climate change with an individual and know that person’s Enneagram type. You could find ways to connect to that person based on the characteristics of their personality. Even if you are communicating with many people at once, you can still consider how information will resonate with people of different Enneagram types. Here are some ways Enneagram types may respond to communication about climate change: 1. Reformers are rational and principled. They may engage with content about the reasons people, businesses and governments are responsible for mitigating climate change. As a Reformer myself, I like how Dr. Katharine Hayhoe’s book Saving Us explains how people can communicate about industries causing climate change in order to encourage policy changes. Recognizing my Enneagram type reminds me that accountability is a topic that appeals to me but may not appeal to all Enneagram types. 2. Helpers are caring and generous. Messages about climate threats people face and how to help could appeal to this group. 3. Achievers care about success and images. They may engage with information about climate careers or ways to make lifestyle changes that align with images of being sustainable. 4. Individualists are sensitive and expressive. Emotional imagery could be an effective way to reach this group. For example, images or videos of animals suffering from heat could motivate Individualists to fight climate change.
A polar bear looks for food in the Canadian Arctic in 2017. It struggles to find food since climate change has melted ice that it needs to catch seals. This video could appeal to an Individualist.
5. Investigators are intense and innovative. Information about entrepreneurial initiatives to solve climate change could engage this group and motivate them to find more solutions.
6. Loyalists are committed and responsible. Effective communication with this group could focus on showing them ways they can commit to climate advocacy, like volunteering for environmental organizations. 7. Enthusiasts love to be busy and have fun. Communication efforts could show them how they can use their time to mitigate climate change in enjoyable ways, like attending protests with friends or volunteering at community gardens. 8. Challengers love power and confrontation. Effective climate communication could show this group how they can confront the powerful oil and gas industry to encourage a transition to cleaner energy sources. 9. Peacemakers are easygoing and agreeable. They could be successful at connecting with people who disagree with them about climate change. Effective communication with this group could teach them how to talk with others to help more people understand climate change. This approach is out of this world! Of course, people do not fit perfectly into Enneagram categories, and there is no guarantee that a message will appeal to someone because they received a certain Enneagram result. The Enneagram is still a unique way for someone to understand how others may view the world differently. It could help people get creative with generating new ideas and strategies for communicating about climate change. Your turn! I encourage you to take the free Enneagram test if you have not taken it before. Once you have your result, read the description about your Enneagram type and reflect on how it affects the ways you communicate. Answer the poll to share your Enneagram type!
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Since many young adults feel concerned about climate change, it is comforting to see a climate scientist expressing hope. I recently read Dr. Katharine Hayhoe’s book Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. In the book, Hayhoe clearly explains the science of climate change and why it is a serious problem already harming the planet. However, she shares several communications strategies that show readers how to successfully encourage people in their lives to help slow the problem. Hayhoe is Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and a professor at Texas Tech University. She is a co-author of three other books and released Saving Us in September 2021. Saving Us is unique because Hayhoe shares her personal experiences as an evangelical Christian advocating to protect the environment. “Evangelical Christian” is probably not the first description that comes to mind when people think about a leader in climate advocacy. In fact, Hayhoe refers to an October 2020 poll that found white evangelical Christians tend to be less worried about climate change than people from other combinations of racial and religious groups in the United States. In her book, Hayhoe explains how she uses her religion to connect with people who do not think climate change is a serious problem. To reach other evangelical Christians, she tells them that climate change disproportionately harms people who are poor, hungry and sick and that the Bible instructs people to care for others in need. Hayhoe finds that connecting with people over their shared faith leads them to trust her and begin to recognize the problem of climate change. Hayhoe’s experiences teach an important communications strategy: people should find ways to connect to others’ values in order to be trusted messengers about climate change. Religion is not always a shared value, but people could connect over other values, such as the economy and justice. In addition to connecting with people through religious faith, Hayhoe maintains faith that people can reduce the impacts of climate change with quick action. She explains that she feels hopeful when she sees kids leading climate strikes. As a climate scientist, she understands the serious threats and consequences of climate change, so it is meaningful that she nevertheless has hope for mitigating the problem. Her hope gives me confidence that it is worthwhile to talk about climate change and take individual actions, like composting. Hayhoe explains that there is not one single solution to climate change but a variety of small solutions, reminding me that every small reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could reduce the severity of climate impacts, including natural disasters. The combination of unique personal experiences and hope makes me give the book a 10/10 rating! I have read several books about the environment, but this book stands out because Hayhoe’s positivity made me feel motivated to continue advocating for the planet. The communications strategies in Saving Us closely align with the strategies I describe in my book Planet Now, although Hayhoe and I write about different individual experiences with advocacy. If you have enjoyed this blog and my book, you should find reading Saving Us to be an intriguing way to continue learning how to slow climate change using strategic communication. To learn more about Hayhoe’s work and communications strategies, follow her on Twitter and listen to her TED Talk: Hayhoe explains the importance of science communication to show people how they can help solve climate change. She spoke at a November 2018 TED Talk in Palm Springs, California.
Most of us have a lot of responsibilities in life, and it can be tough to commit to lifestyle changes to protect the environment. However, you should make the point to take each of the following actions at least one time. These actions could be more fun and less challenging than they may appear! 1. Read a book about the environment. Books can help people better understand and discuss complex environmental topics. Also, reading about the beauty of the environment could inspire action to protect it. One book that shares stories of hope for solving climate change is All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson edited this book. See this list for more books about climate change. 2. Compost food waste at home. The USDA’s Economic Research Service found that Americans waste about 31% of the food they buy. Uneaten food contributes to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases in landfills. To reduce food in landfills, people can compost by first collecting food scraps in small bins. They should avoid collecting meat and dairy. Then they can add the scraps to backyard compost bins or bring them to drop-off sites, such as community gardens. The scraps will break down into fertilizer that can improve soil and grow more food. 3. Join an environmental organization. People can join environmental organizations to contribute to larger efforts to reduce climate change. Through these organizations, people might install solar panels in communities or collect signatures on petitions for climate policies. Participating in environmental organizations can remind people that they are not alone in attempting to slow climate change. Some organizations, like the Sierra Club and the Sunrise Movement, are national organizations with local chapters. Some examples of regional organizations in North Carolina are Appalachian Voices and Save Our Sandhills. College students may have several options of environmental organizations they can join through their schools. For example, at UNC-Chapel Hill, I lead an organization called United Solar Initiative. It teaches students about solar energy and reduces climate change by adding solar panels to homes in the community. 4. Attend an environmental protest. Protests with clear purposes can encourage politicians to pass climate policies or can inspire more people to call for action to protect the environment. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is known for encouraging students to skip school on Fridays in protest of a lack of international action to prevent climate change. Her protests have been effective at inspiring millions of students around the world to advocate for slowing climate change, although Thunberg said in November 2021 that international leaders have failed to take meaningful action to prevent climate change so far. In September 2019, I attended a peaceful protest in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to encourage town, state, and national leaders to pass policies reducing greenhouse gas emissions. About 200 people attended. The protest did not directly lead to policy changes, but it did show me that other students and community members care about reducing climate impacts. At the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in September 2019, people protest a lack of government climate action. 5. Start a conversation about climate change with someone who does not seem concerned about the problem. Encouraging one person to think about climate change in new ways can make that person influence others to think differently. A recent post shares tips on motivating people to care about climate change. These actions are meaningful! Making efforts to protect the environment can make environmental communicators appear more trustworthy to Americans. Communicators’ willingness to make changes suggests that they believe climate change is real and serious. Therefore, taking these actions can help you communicate more effectively. On average, people spend about 90,000 hours of their lives at work. As climate change continues to threaten food supply, energy supply, public health and lives, a major way for people to help is to have careers focused on slowing the problem. Even if you have already chosen a major or started a career path, do not fear! People can mitigate climate change and its consequences through many different fields.
The above examples are just some ideas for mitigating impacts of climate change in different fields. The Sunrise Movement is a youth-led nonprofit organization that advocates for slowing climate change. It created a quiz to determine the types of careers people should have to protect the environment based on their skills and personalities. My result is “The Communicator,” which is fitting since I am studying communications and communicating about the environment through this blog! The Sunrise Movement estimates that investing $10 trillion in green infrastructure, like public transportation and renewable energy sources, can create over 15 million green jobs across the United States. In North Carolina, investing in green infrastructure could create about 463 jobs per 10,000 people. Not all of the jobs require college degrees. Many young adults do not know what they want their career paths to look like. When talking with people who want to protect the environment but do not know how, make sure they know that many careers may fit their strengths and reduce impacts of climate change. The Sunrise Movement promotes its Green New Careers quiz through this video.
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Welcome to my blog! It is a combination of posts from my strategic writing (spring 2022) and personal branding (spring 2023) courses at UNC. I hope you will enjoy reading the posts and learning about the environment and communication.
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