As the impacts of global climate change become increasingly more visible and felt, climate change remains a remote and future issue for many people in western countries. What role does media and communication play in bringing climate change into the ‘here and now’ of the everyday? And how can mediated communication help us engage with climate change in ways that generate positive action rather than overwhelm and despair?
Drawing upon her distinctive research, Professor Julie Doyle explained how visual and mediated communication constructs knowledge and shapes perceptions of climate change within society. Through her scholarship, activism and partnerships with artists, educators, business and NGOs, Professor Doyle presented three key challenges and opportunities for climate change communication: making climate change visible as a cultural issue within media, popular culture and climate science; connecting climate change to the emotions and practices of our identities and everyday life, specifically through our food and eating habits; working creatively across disciplines to emotionally engage and empower different communities, particularly young people, to help envision sustainable futures.
Professor Julie Doyle argued that in the context of increasing global threats to climate science/policy and climate justice, working together in ways that are creative, caring and challenging are required to enable the move towards more climate resilient societies.