Group items tagged

The American Climate and Environmental Value Survey (ACEVS) is the third application of sophisticated psychographic research on American environmental and climate values. The goal of ACEVS is to increase the leverage, scale, reach, and most importantly, efficacy, of climate and environmental initiatives by empowering the movement with proven research and methodology for authentically engaging Americans in climate and environmental solutions, bringing these Americans to solutions on their own terms, in context of their choosing, and for their personal benefit.

This survey includes a section on what influences people (primarily the media). It also begins with the comment that "cap and trade" is now "toxic." It would be interesting to connect the dots here (as Oreskes & co-author do in Merchants of Doubt), so that we see who was behind the push against cap and trade. Ironically, cap and trade originated as a free market alternative to government regulation of how much pollution could be emitted.

Fred Singer!

Links to an NPR podcast telling the story of how homosexuality was removed from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual). The story is told by Alix Spiegel, the granddaughter of one of the psychiatrists involved in the movement, Dr. John Patrick Spiegel. While his point of view is given, mostly by recounting stories passed down in the family, the podcast strives to be more objective than those stories, drawing on multiple sources, not only on family lore. In this historical example, a grassroots movement succeeds in changing accepted scientific "fact".

Kendra - I finally had time to listen to the podscast. Thanks for sharing this here so I could listen to this very personal story.

This article talks about the use of GIS and building energy consumption data to create and info graphic of NYC.  This seemed linked to the conversation about combining visuals and data to effective awareness and to motivate change.

This short journalist piece explores the roots of Obama's nuclear policy linking it back to Al Core's quest against global warming and climate change. The policy promotes nuclear as the alternative to fossil fuels. The piece draws a direct link between the nuclear industry, Al Gore, the Clinton administration and even Obama (both as Senator and President)

Mary Douglas's cultural theory proposes that there "a limited set of alternative ways of perceiving and resolving the issues. These contending policy perspectives justify, represent and stem from four different ways of organizing social relations: hierarchy, individualism, egalitarianism and fatalism" (or variants of these names depending on the author). Here cultural theory is applied to climate change science and policies.

This article talks about changing politics in an "age of scarcity", which a number of resources say we're entering now. My thinking is - what role does this play in policy makers resistance to climate change?

From Laura T. Thought you might like to listen to the participants in this short 9 min. clip with an ear to discerning threads of the 'four policy perspectives' (heirarchy, individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism) in "Clumsy Solutions" article posted on Diigo. Climate Change : Panel discussion for Editorial Intelligence, London, UK, December 1, 2009. Includes author of "Saving Kyoto," Graciela Chichilnisky, Ph.D. tenured prof. at Columbia in Economics and Mathematical Statistics & Top Ten Most Influential Latinos in America. She created Columbia's Consortium on Risk Management that was funded by six mj. global reinsurance co.'s --- a group which developed new financial instruments called 'catastrophe bundles.' (approx. 9 min.)

Why are so many conservatives still skeptical that global warming is a real problem and threat? It may have to do with the willingness to read opposing view points. Talks about echo chamber effect of modern partisan politics. References alternative to cap-and-trade (carbon tax offset by a payroll tax cut).

Jeff -- by looking at the "other" side I've found that there is probably a discourse / ideological framing that would be more life affirming and oriented towards sustainable growth that would still address carbon reductions but orient it at a more local level. Interested in checking out the resource you mention.

It might also have to do with the fact that media tends to exaggerate and provide inaccurate information with the purpose of selling more (like advertising, twisting the facts a little bit just to sell more). In the 70's it wasn't about global warming, it was about global cooling. I wonder what happen to that.

an entry point to a checklist of conditions for organizers and facilitators to foster when running a collaborative process. The checklists are organized under four headings: Respect, Risk, Revelation, Re-engagement. The thinking behind these headings is, in brief, that a well-facilitated collaborative process keeps us listening actively to each other, fostering mutual Respect that allows Risks to be taken, elicits more insights than any one person came in with (Revelation), and engages us in carrying out and carrying on the plans we develop (Re-engagement). What we come out with is very likely to be larger and more durable than what any one person came in with; the more so, the more voices that are brought out by the process. The sequence of 4Rs grew out of an an annual series of experimental, interaction-intensive, interdisciplinary workshops that "foster collaboration among those who teach, study, and engage with the public about scientific developments and social change" (http://www.stv.umb.edu/newssc.html). Since we named the 4Rs, we have found ourselves using them to review and redesign our teaching, theories about learning, committee meetings, and, in general, the cultivation of collaborators.

Doing good things better is Brian's latest book. He is prolific and in this book he describes the discipline of daily writing that he used to write this book (and previous work) -- and that he leads his students to use. The principles of daily writing are given in brief at http://www.faculty.umb.edu/pjt/DailyWriting.html. Looking at Brian's website of writing, you will find material on activism, especially around developments in science and technology, but not only this.

So a couple of these annotated resources are seeming to point to the need for compelling and clear stories and communication. That would be interesting to follow up. And not just the dissemination of ideas, but the support for dialogue and deliberation.

Just found this too and wonder if there might be further work to look into. http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/marketing-communication/storytelling-and-social-change

With a PhD in Biochemistry from Oxford, Nich Anthis combines his dual passions in science and politics to comment on issues and research that are at the intersection of both. Nick writes: "Recognizing science as a path toward understanding nature, distinct from corporate and other applications, The Scientific Activist opens up a new dialogue on the proper role of science in an ever changing society. The truth isn't always black or white, but an informed public is an empowered one, so I won't shy away from the complex issues. Most importantly, though, The Scientific Activist takes on the people and obstacles standing in the way of the progress and proper application of science. Enemies of science, beware!" He is working towards more nuanced and complex understandings of what science means and what role it plays in a complex world.

In this editorial from the October 2010 volume of "Science," Bruce Alberts suggests a system of STEM (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) merit badges for children ages 5-18 to earn awards in schools. He compares this system both to the system used by the Boy and Girl Scouts, and to the system of AP (Advanced Placement) courses currently used in high schools today. It is suggested that this will help students maintain the curiosity they feel towards science in the early years into their high school careers, by when children have often lost interest.

I've recently come to the term STEAM which ads "art" into the traditional STEM equation. I also found this link while doing this quick research - http://ilandsymposium.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/art-science-activism-and-bicycles/. This combined with Rhoda's post about Digital Storytelling makes me wonder what role creativity (from stories to visualizations) play in this equation.

Not being familiar at all with STEM, I am interested in seeing what connections might be found with further inquiry into how stories and the way they are shared can have an effect on positive change, education and personal connections to issues that often seem too big.

Richard Louv discusses "nature deficit disorder" in this 12 minute video

Kendra - I read his book a few years back and can really appreciate his approach to "intelligence."

This is the lovely refworks page made by the awesome and helpful 24/7 online librarians. Let me know if you cannot see it. These relate to the topic of political affiliations and disaster relief. Sadly I did not get it in time to read most of them. It seems none is really directly applicable to my topic anyway.

"Cultural Theory is used as a theoretical lens for understanding the different interpretations of the risk associated with BSE/nvCJD, the subsequent risk amplification by the media, and the effect of trust and reliance in science and government in their construction."

This might be useful for those of you trying to parse out how climate science is being received by the public -- skeptics are farther between than we think, perhaps?

This is an interview to Peter Cordani the CEO of DYN-O-MAT, who had the project of stopping hurricane Rtita in Florida with the gel that is used in diapers. I kind of look for this after Ben's presentation because I thought it was interesting.