1. Building Educator Capacity
Crystal Powers
Project Coordinator & Extension Engineer
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
@UNLextCrystal
Hello . . .

2. Project partners include the University of Nebraska as lead institution and the regional partners as shown. For more information, please visit us online at animalagclimatechange.org

3. All of the work on this project was done through the generous support of you and your tax dollars through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

4. Project Objectives Equip Educators – ability & motivation
Provide science-based information
Coordinate state, regional and national levels.

5. 11 face-to-face conferences with approximately 1350 attendees
AACC weekly blog sent to 990 people; the daily Southeast Climate Blog has received over 11,000 site visits; project videos including recordings from many of the face-to-face conferences have received nearly 8,800 views; regional project newsletters are sent to 627 stakeholders; modest social media efforts have 219 followers
400 presentations and publications were given by project personnel for local, regional, and international publications, meetings, and conferences

6. Online Course Climate Trends Climate Impacts
Adaptation and risk management
Climate science
Greenhouse gases and life cycle assessment
Greenhouse gas regulation and markets
Climate change communication
four years, 321 participants have registered (38% completion)

7. Outcomes - ability

8. Outcomes - motivation

9. “If they only understood the facts, then we’d all agree!”
Traditionally we use a “science deficit” model
Science deficit:
Only works with 10-15% of population
Ignores the complexity of opinion formation (Nisbet & Scheufele 2009)
knowledge also emotion, values, groups, trust
Some topics have scientific consensus, some do not
Critically evaluate our own biases first: worldview, role of technology, values, etc

10. Understand worldviews
Cultural cognition: the tendency of people to fit their perceptions of risk and related kinds of facts to the values that bind their identities. Dake, K. (1991). Orienting Dispositions in the Perception of Risk: An analysis of contemporary worldviews and cultural biases. J. Cross-Cultural Psych., 22,
Different issues are considered high risk by each worldview – leads to different perceptions of problems and solutions
Be self reflective of how our own worldview shapes our programming
Certain highly science-literate people are more skeptical, not less, of climate change risks (Kahan et al 2012)
Culture & political values trump facts
Beliefs affect the information remembered (Hamilton 2012)

11. People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care
Find your passion, motivation, The Big Why
Be transparent and tell them why you care
Acknowledge your own bias and worldview
Builds trust and helps overcome the concern that science has been bought.
Teddy Roosevelt

12. Meet people where they are
Know your audience and their concerns
75% agree climate IS changing
Adaptation!
66% - 75% of ag community believes climate is changing
Split over the cause, but that doesn’t stop adaptation
2012/2013 U2U/SARP surveys

13. Start with local history

14. Framing Focus on audience’s values & concerns:
2012/2013 U2U/SARP surveys

15. What do we have in common: Discover shared values and goals
Respect them and what they respect: values, people, methods, history
“Build your audience’s connection with each other, the environment, and the society that enjoys the benefits of its natural resources.” (Psychology of Climate Change Communication
Acknowledge problems and uncertainty (Haddad et al. 2012)

16. Present new information so it can be heard
Communicate using both analysis and imagery. Brain processes information using two systems: experiential system (emotions) and analytical processing system. Need to use both. (CRED
Use appropriate metaphors. i.e. sleeping bag metaphor helps explain the greenhouse effect.
Correct any misconceptions or myths: most start with a kernel of truth, and acknowledge that, but then correct misinformation.

17. Concrete
Local
Now
Make it concrete, local, and happening now (Slovic, P & Hardisty, D. J., Weber, E. U. 2009)

18. Somerville & Hassol 2011

19. Co-create solutions
Build trust and buy-in by providing a forum for discussing potential solutions
Balance analytical data with vivid imagery
hopeful campaigns
rooted in the audience’s everyday lives
short messages that promoted responsible behavior (Mathieu et al. 2012)
compelling vision of what can be done
Do not want people to feel that it is preordained or impossible to overcome.
i.e. Asking people to change a light bulb may not seem like a significant response to a monumental problem
Photos: USDA-ARS, UNL, BeefMagazine

20. Win-win across shared values
Social
Economic
Environmental
Acknowledge that there are multiple solutions to the same problem and discuss tradeoffs.
Different worldviews prefer different solutions focus on areas of commonality
Facts without framing are more likely to be processed with motivated reasoning (Druckman & Bolson 2011)

21. Share success stories What is working?
Use a variety of mediums: print, videos, field days

22. Science in Action
Public wants to know how the science applies to their life.
We can point back to the basic science

23. SciComm Lessons Learned
We needed to use SciComm strategies AND teach them
Meet people where they are
Start with LOCAL, historical information
Present new information in ways that are heard
Co-create solutions
It’s about how the science is APPLIED

24. “There are things science can answer and things that ethics can answer
“There are things science can answer and things that ethics can answer...” Temple Grandin
Not everyone will agree, and that’s OK

25. How will you take on the challenge?
Crystal Powers:
@UNLextCrystal
Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate
Center for Research in Environmental Decisions, Columbia University
guide.cred.columbia.edu
Useful to Usable
mygeohub.org/groups/u2u