{"id":4605,"date":"2021-06-29T09:11:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T14:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/?p=4605"},"modified":"2021-06-29T11:09:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T16:09:16","slug":"tell-me-a-story-why-climate-change-communication-needs-to-embrace-our-childlike-curiosity-holly-parker-explores-how-embracing-the-childlike-curiosity-of-why-can-assist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/tell-me-a-story-why-climate-change-communication-needs-to-embrace-our-childlike-curiosity-holly-parker-explores-how-embracing-the-childlike-curiosity-of-why-can-assist\/","title":{"rendered":"Holly Parker explores how embracing the childlike curiosity of \u201cwhy\u201d can assist in communicating the complex issues of climate change: “Tell me a story \u2013 why climate change communication needs to embrace our childlike curiosity”."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This article is part of the ISC\u2019s new series, Transform21<\/a>, which will explore the state of knowledge and action, five years on from the Paris Agreement and in a pivotal year for action on sustainable development.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A child starts down the endless path of asking \u201cwhy?\u201d \u201cWhy is the sky blue?\u201d Why is there day and night?\u201d \u201cWhy do fish swim?\u201d \u201cWhy is winter colder than summer?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to answer these questions in ways that a child might understand. I go with the facts. \u201cThe sky is blue because sunlight reaches Earth\u2019s atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered more than the other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves.\u201d But after many exchanges, and receiving an increasing number of incredulous looks, I give up, thwarted by the relentless curiosity of \u201cwhy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, social and physical scientists working on climate face a communication challenge. How do we instill the urgency and intimacy we feel for climate science in individuals and communities, where action can make an enormous difference? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that the key to effective climate science communication is embracing the sometimes frustrating childlike curiosity of \u201cwhy.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do children learn what is important to them? Stories, myths, legends and fairy tales help children explain the world around them and understand their place in it. According the BBC<\/a>, \u201cMost small children live their lives in quite a limited environment. Reading stories to children can show them far-flung places, extraordinary people and eye-opening situations to expand and enrich their world\u2026 Scientists have found that children who have fiction read to them regularly find it easier to understand other people \u2013 they show more empathy.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we grow older and focus on our disciplinary worlds with their own data-centric communication systems, we can lose track of storytelling as a powerful learning pathway. Stories help answer the question \u201cwhy?\u201d Why do we do what we do as scientists? Why does our work matter? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full article <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is part of the ISC\u2019s new series, Transform21, which will explore the state of knowledge …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-4605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publications-and-awards"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4605"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4623,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4605\/revisions\/4623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4605"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.une.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=4605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}