Talking In This Climate

In this episode, learn how play can be used to provoke productive conversations about climate.

We chat with Harry Lee Shang Lun, the game designer of Convergence. Written in collaboration with Noongar researcher Cass Lynch, and commissioned by Arts House for Refuge 2021, Convergence is a hybrid web and tabletop experience that invites players to question what decisions they will make to create and break a world living through climate change. 

In this interview, we explore the power of play to imagine alternative futures living with climate change and test political decisions. We get comfortable with discomfort and consider why we need to push boundaries of trust in order to create a new shared future with loved ones. Sometimes play is the most radical thing you can do to find authentic connections outside of our current systems of oppression and inequality. 

Play Convergence online: https://convergence.place/

Visit Seed, Australia’s first Indigenous youth climate network: https://www.seedmob.org.au/

Recorded on 27 September 2021

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In this episode, we discuss misinformation and disinformation on climate change, what it is, how it is manufactured, its impacts, and how you can identify and protect against it. Misinformation and disinformation may be one of the most influential weapons that powerful individuals and companies use to stifle action on climate. It's time to call it out and talk about what to look for, how to break it down and what measures can be taken together to negate its effects. 

In this conversation, we refer to a Carbon Brief article How climate change misinformation spreads online published 26 June 2020 by

Kathie Treen, PhD candidate in the computer science department at the University of Exeter

Dr Hywel Williams, associate professor in data science at the University of Exeter

Dr Saffron O’Neill, associate professor in geography at the University of Exeter

URL: https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-climate-change-misinformation-spreads-online 

Recorded on 16 August 2021.

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Feeling anxious about climate change? Reflect and recharge with this unique episode where we explore emotional responses to climate change with Dr. Blanche Verlie, member of the Sydney Environment Institute and author of Learning to live-with climate change: From anxiety to transformation.

In this conversation we flip the teacher/student dynamic and have one of Blanche’s previous students, our co-host Zoe, interview her. Join our discussion on feeling the realities of climate change and embrace ways to support each other and live with climate change.

Together, we reflect on what living with climate change can feel and look like and delve into environmental education and its impacts on students and teachers. We explore the power of laughter and vulnerability in communicating climate change and unpack some powerful concepts such as: more than human, the human nature binary, relational climate justice and bearing worlds with climate.

Access the free e-book of Learning to live-with climate change: From anxiety to transformation: https://bit.ly/3jJPBHB 

Our sincere thanks to Blanche Verlie for taking the time to speak with us for this episode, and to Zoe Goodman for hosting this discussion.

Recorded on 12 July 2021.

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Can music, film, literature and art inspire climate activism or change our perspectives on climate change? In this episode, we discuss non-academic examples of climate change communications.

Arguably, pop culture can have as much, or perhaps even greater, impact than academic literature on getting us to think differently about climate change and the world that we live in.  

In preparing for this episode we each shared a short film or a piece of music that has had an impact on us and how we experience environmentalism. We encourage you to take a look at our playlist and feel free to share your own examples of non-academic climate change communications on our Facebook page!

Our discussion in this episode focuses on two examples from our playlist: The first one is Yurala, a track by First Nations choir Spinifex Gum and the second one is Carbon Whore, a short film produced by the Youth Disability Advocacy Service in 2010.

Follow this link to listen to our playlist: https://bit.ly/3x4AVIA

Marliya Choir who are a part of Gondwana Choirs, forming a part of Spinifex Gum – a collective of voices led by Felix Riebl from The Cat Empire.

Recorded 14 June 2021.

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In this episode, we take a deeper look at “the messenger” and why it can be important to understand different messengers in climate communications. We refer to research from David Holmes, Director of the Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub and explore the issues of trust, effectiveness and things to be learned from messengers. 

Join us as we discuss a number of ways to become more mindful, emphatic and, overall, better communicators - and become what we like to call “agents of change” for a climate safe future. This can take shape in many forms and evolves over time. As a group we have developed a snapshot of ways that you can make a meaningful impact.

There are infinite ways for you to be active in how we shape a climate safe future. This can take shape in many forms and evolves over time. As a group we have developed this list to share ways that we, ourselves, have been involved in climate action. 

Vote. At every level - federal, state and council. 

Being an active participant in Australia’s democracy is one of the most powerful ways for you to affect the direction of climate policies. Voting is a privilege that many people do not have, so we should be mindful not to take it for granted. If you can, write letters, sign petitions, support campaigns and local political groups—you’d be surprised how effective this can be.

Divest from fossil fuels

We cannot provide financial advice, however divesting from your bank, your superannuation and your energy consumption can scale your impact! By taking your money out of these organisations and putting it in organisations that are supporting climate safe futures you are creating a market signal that fossil fuels are not a safe investment. To make your divestment more effective, tell the organisation you are leaving them because they are investing in fossil fuels. See Market Forces for a breakdown of Australia’s banks and superannuation funds. 

Get involved and support environmental organisations

Donate your dollars, your time and/or your skills, when you can. Immersing yourself with others working towards climate safe futures grows your web of connections and exposes you to a variety of environmental approaches and theories of change. Not sure where to get started? Jump on Eco Shout to find local organisations and causes you can get involved with! 

Develop your knowledge and share it!

The most exciting part about environmentalism is that the knowledge and approaches are ever evolving! So one of the most powerful things we can do is keep learning and sharing knowledge with each other. Challenging your worldview and assumptions is incredibly powerful. Check out these resources for a wild ride:

Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub

9 Actionable Lessons for Positive Climate Change Communication

Recorded 19th April 2021.

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Why do some people care about climate change more than others? In this episode, Amélie interviews Tim and Ewan as they reflect on how their past has led them to care about climate change, and what keeps them going. We are reminded that everyone has their own unique story, regardless of their level of engagement with environmentalism. Both find talking about climate with loved ones challenging, but continue to seek commonalities and entry points for engaging and productive conversations.

Recorded 18 January 2021.

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In this special episode, we interview Soo Ryu, a PhD fellow at the Aarhus School of Architecture. We discuss non-verbal ways of communication, with a focus on the power and limitations of maps to reveal and conceal. We also consider our terrestrial biases and how our worldviews can be constrained by using words like ‘nature’ that reinforce our separation from the world around us. This episode will be showcased at the 2021 Sustainable Living Festival on 17 February, where you can join us in a live discussion about the episode.

http://www.slf.org.au/event/talking-in-this-climate/

Recorded 25 January 2021.

Music, 'Who We Want To Be', by Tom Day: https://www.tomday.me/

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Why do some people care about climate change more than others? In this episode, Rosie, Amélie and Phani reflect on how their past has led them to care about climate change, and what keeps them going. We are reminded that everyone has their own unique story, regardless of their level of engagement with environmentalism. All three find talking about climate with loved ones challenging, but there are lessons for how positive interaction with friends and family can lead to meaningful impacts in the long-term. 

Recorded 4 January 2021.

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In this episode, we examine the use of apocalyptic framing in climate change communications. Traditionally, the end has been nigh for religious and moralistic reasons with a call to repent (though it is safe to say this year has been uniquely challenging and thrust most of us into an existential whirlwind!). Apocalypse Forever? Post-political Populism and the Spectre of Climate Change by Erik Swyngedow challenges apocalyptic framing in climate change discourse, arguing that it more accurately signals fears for the end of capitalism. Another issue Swyngedow raises is that consensus among the scientific community has been cynically used to make climate change discourse post-political; to suggest alternative solutions or perspectives makes one “anti-science.”

Join us as we take a deep dive into how we try to make sense of our place as beings part of a finite world, wrestle tensions with what it means to feel like we are living a meaningful, empowered life while understanding that death is inevitable but does not have to signify an apocalypse is coming.   

Recorded 2nd November 2020.

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In this episode, we poke a stick at economic metaphors that are commonly used to describe sustainability and the environment. In the West, under a dominant neoliberal-capitalist milieu, we take stock of how this influences the way we communicate about nature, and the material dangers of doing so. Economic metaphors are not benign, and the longer we ponder, the more power it seems is embedded in metaphor. Indeed, words like "natural capital" or "ecosystem services" have become common tongue. Through this conversation we explore the potential ramifications of continuing to use these types of metaphors, as we arrive at a crossroads: continuing to use the metaphors already accepted, or forging a new series of metaphors—around restoration or renovation—as a middle way out of the (metaphorical) forest.

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