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Language, Frames, and Narratives

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Talking Climate

Abstract

Most communication happens via anecdotes and stories, not graphs and statistics. Although there are limitations to the impact of ‘one-way’ message-based communication strategies, identifying the right linguistic tools and narratives for starting more productive climate conversations is a critical aspect of effective participatory engagement. There are no ‘magic words’, but there are better and worse ways of starting climate conversations. Framing messages to engage with diverse communal values is important, and narratives about climate change that can engage beyond the ‘usual suspects’ and across the political spectrum can shift climate change from a scientific to a social reality. The third principle for public engagement is to tell new stories to shift climate change from a scientific to a social reality.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2013/07/the-president-as-climate-change-communicator-how-obama-delivered-his-policies/. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  2. 2.

    http://www.energybillrevolution.org/. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  3. 3.

    http://www.wearefuterra.com/our-projects/sell-the-sizzle/. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  4. 4.

    https://www.thersa.org/discover/publications-and-articles/rsa-blogs/2015/12/paris-climate-agreement-the-good-the-bad-and-the-authentically-positive. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  5. 5.

    Roberts, D. (2016) Is it worth trying to ‘reframe’ climate change? Probably not, Vox Energy and Environment [Online], Available from:http://www.vox.com/2016/3/15/11232024/reframe-climate-change. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  6. 6.

    http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/art-climate-change-communication; http://platformlondon.org/oil-the-arts/; http://www.capefarewell.com/latest/news.html; http://www.juliesbicycle.com/. Accessed 23 June 2016.

  7. 7.

    http://crackmagazine.net/opinion/music/features/see-this-world-musicians-climate-change/. Accessed 23 June 2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Outreach, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Adam Corner

  2. Climate Outreach, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Jamie Clarke

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Corner, A., Clarke, J. (2017). Language, Frames, and Narratives. In: Talking Climate. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46744-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46744-3_4

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