Like a bit of humor about writing and language? Me too. This one is from Mark Litzler, the cartoonist who illustrated my 2011 book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.
[Editor’s Note: This post is by guest blogger Mandira Srivastava, a freelance writer specializing in business and marketing communication.]
Events like the global climate marches give people the plausible hope that something can be done. What messages do we need to send?
Almost all scientists and people around the world agree that climate change presents dire new risks and vulnerabilities for urban and rural dwellers alike. Clearly, we need to frame messages that can inspire and persuade in the right direction.
To demand and implement urgent action on climate change and increase pressure on. The Global Climate Action Summit (being held Sept 12-14 in San Francisco), activists and demonstrators across the globe poured into the streets on Sept. 8. According to organizers, over 900 marches, concerts, teach-ins, rallies, voter registration drives, town halls, and the world’s largest street mural brought out more than 30,000 people in San Francisco — alongside at least 250,000 around the world.
In the US, the marches were dubbed “Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice”, convened by The People’s Climate Movement. (PCM). Their focus? Push government authorities to create new policies to prevent or cope with the worse effects of climate change.
Hmmm…. another protest, another climate conference – is it really something different this time? How will these marches change our behaviors and inspire us to conduct “greener” lives and businesses? How can we promote a non-partisan attitude with slogans we carry at these marches? Continue reading
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we — as communicators — can bring our skills, insights, and understandings into the service of our fragile planet. How can we help move beyond the “doom and gloom” so often seen and heard whenever anyone talks or writes about the environmental crises we face? Can we contribute to creating an effective space of empowerment and motivation?
I recently came across a relatively new academic term: “environmental communication”. The International Environmental Communication Association, the scholarly association for the field, only launched in 2011. Their Executive Director, Mark Meisner, wrote a piece on their One-Planet Talking Blog that I excerpt here because it really speaks to me:
“Better policies, cleaner energy sources, new technologies, carbon taxes and all of the other innovative approaches to dealing with environmental issues will only take us so far. In order to achieve lasting ecological sustainability, human culture (especially in wasteful Western societies) is going to have to change as well. This will require some significant shifts in our views and values towards the natural world, ourselves, and each other. So, how well we communicate about nature and environmental affairs will affect how quickly and thoroughly we can transform our cultures and ultimately how well we address the ecological crisis.”
Wow. I guess we actually do have a role to play!
Just the other day, my 7-year-old cousin and I were reading a book that referred to “global warming” and I was at a loss to explain it without scaring her. I know there are many educators working on this very front for learners of all ages (including us grown-ups). An example is an aptly named Initiative called “Beyond Doom and Gloom: Climate Solutions”.
O.k. This is obviously a huge topic, and I am just beginning to explore it. If you would like to chime in, please do so by leaving a reply.
Never underestimate the reader’s intelligence or overestimate his information level. – Well-known journalism saying
Like a bit of humor about writing and language? Me too. This one is from Mark Litzler, the cartoonist who illustrated my 2011 book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.
