Climate Challenge puts the player in the hot seat

I've had a few "educational" computer games inflicted on me in my time. I have to admit, however, to enjoying this free flash game, commissioned by the BBC and made by Red Redemption games, in consultation with researchers at Oxford University:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/index_1.shtml

It's starting to look a little dated now (it was made in 2006), but it is still an interesting way of giving the player a new perspective on the struggles of decision-makers trying to balance economy, environment, resources and popularity.

I found that my political views and opinions definitely affected the policies I chose. There were times when it would have made sense, game-wise, to invest in intensive farming to get more food, but it wasn't something I wanted to do... I also wonder how much the political leanings of the creators affected the values assigned to the different policies - particularly when talking about how 'popular' different things would be.

I've also downloaded a full game by the same authors, but haven't found time to play it much yet:

http://fateoftheworld.net/

chalking up a street's energy usage

This chalk stencil approach has been used in Brighton to show the average daily energy use of a street, compared to the Brighton average. An interesting way of making the invisible visible - something that I believe information graphics are particularly good at.

More details here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/apr/12/energy-use-households-monitor-electricity

Rio +20 animation

I've just been sent a link to an animation called Rio+20: Turn the Tide for Our Ocean, by Pew and ZSL.

The narrative begins with an idealised future, setting up for a stark comparison to the current state of our oceans. The piece is obviously intended as a call to action for those at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, urging them to make the choices that lead to the ideal future presented at the start of the video. Nice to see some very positive messaging out there.

Video here: http://youtu.be/GkQa1cyvHXE

A better day the 100 way

The team behind the German project "Ein Guter Tag hat 100 Punkten" (A better day has 100 points) have recently released a (mostly) English version of their site. The idea is to show how people could live sustainably, with a budget of 100 "points" of greenhouse gas emissions. They've tried to set their scale so that if everyone used only 100 "points", the global temperature would remain constant (at current population levels). They plan to adjust the points values in line with scientific developments and population growth.

The strength of the idea is in its simplicity. While there are of course gaps in their lists of products and activities, it is a good start for anyone interested in knowing about their contribution to climate change. They also produce simple stickers that can be used to put on different products and objects. They tell me that these are particularly popular with schoolchildren.

Their site is here:
http://www.better-day.org/
You can use it to look up the "points" value of specific items, calculate and store the value for your day, or order the stickers that you can use to spread the word...

Imagining Change: Coastal Conversations

I've just been sent a link to the following film, produced for the Planet Under Pressure conference in London earlier this year,  to showcase AHRC* work. It features three different projects, showing different "creative engagements" with the theme of coastal change:

  http://vimeo.com/39651591

Interesting to see yet more ways of explaining scientific data to a wider audience through varied artistic media.

*Arts and Humanities Research Council

How to talk to a climate change denier

While the CCC group has so far focussed on media communication, there is also a lot that can be said about effective individual-level communication. Susan Lancaster from Helson has just sent me an excellent video of George Marshall (from talkingclimate.org) explaining how he recommends approaching conversations with climate change sceptics (or, as he prefers, "dissenters"). Some of the ideas he has could well be applied to media-based communication as well as individual-level conversations. You can see the full video here, which I highly recommend:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp-nJKBwQR4

However, if you can't spare 20 minutes to watch this, here's a very brief summary of what he says:

1) Common Ground
People's views are more likely to be changed by their peers - people that they share something in common with. Show them that you have something in common - family, politics, faith, passions. Psychologists know this as the theory of social norms.

2) Respect
Treat them with respect. Don't criticise the sources of their information, or try to make them feel guilty. This will just lead to unproductive arguments.

3) Hold your views
Quite okay to say what views you have, and why you have them. Say that you've found the overwhelming scientific opinions convincing. No-one can argue with what your own views are.

4) Personal journey
Talk about how you came to these views. Was there a time when you didn't think about energy consumption or CO2 emissions? How did you come to feel differently? Perhaps having children has made you think more about the kind of world that future generations will inhabit? Things that your audience might identify with will be helpful.

5) Fits worldview
Everyone has their worldview. They frame their world based on their life experiences (parents, location, family situation, faith, etc). As a generalisation, climate dissenters tend to be male, older, and with conservative politics. These people often have certain values - they feel that people that work hard at building a career and a family are entitled to certain rewards for their efforts. They can see climate change as an attack on them, changing the rules that they are used to, limiting the level of consumption that they have spent their whole lives working up to, and are just starting to realise.

6) Offer rewards
Talk about positive experiences that you have had as a result of changing your behaviour. Try and link these to values that fit their worldview - often those based on community, family and social life. You could talk about holidays where you have had a more enjoyable time without flying - or the health benefits of active transport.

climate and weather

Another example of the use of humour for communication. This time we have Armstrong and Miller mocking a well-known social trend (as well as the classic British stereotype of obsession with the weather).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQlHaGhYoF0