Last semester, I took a course titled “environment and communication”. We mainly learned about various techniques and approaches (i.e. blogging) that could be used to communicate science and environmental issues to the public. Through writing articles and making weekly presentations, we were challenged to communicate our topics in a way that a Grade 8 student would be able to understand. It had to be simple, effective and relevant. More than that however was our exposure to the media and how the media perpetually attempts to communicate science in a simple and thought-provoking way. We examined media sources that did a thorough job on reporting environmental issues and also media that was dreadful at it.
Some of these topics included climate change (the science, economics and politics of it), urban air pollution, geo-engineering and hazardous waste disposal just to name a few. These topics are by no means a simple equation that makes sense to everyone. They require a good level of understanding, application and research. This doesn't mean that we have to spend a day doing field research or looking through academic journals to understand them. It means reading online sources to understand the basics and be critical of what is being produced.
A positive trend indicating an improvement in communicating environmental issues is the increased use of internet. We are now living in a more digitalized world. Technology is all around us and the ubiquity of the media perpetually reinforces topics that citizens actually want to hear. Information about science and the environment is all around us. With blogging, online news sources and television, you can now read or view numerous topics that capture your interest. Sure, with this increase in information your level of critical thinking and scepticism should increase as well. What’s trash and what’s good? I am sure you can ascertain that yourself after 15 seconds of exposure to the article.
Some will share their latest findings on climate change so as to accept or reject human-induced climate change. Overall, the level of uncertainty regarding numerous scientific and environmental topics can really infuse dubiety but this forces us to seek out more information, learn and share our criticisms.
With the ubiquity of information and the glorious internet, all of us are gaining knowledge every single day. Some of this knowledge pertains to the environment and current affairs. My challenge for you is to start utilizing that knowledge and spreading awareness. Climate change continues to be a very critical environmental topic and current affair of our day. With the knowledge you learn about the subject matter, whether it is political or scientific, a great way to communicate it is to share information (blogs, news articles, youtube videos) with as many people as you can.
Ultimately, the more informed we are about these issues the more critical we can be of our elected officials and perhaps have more of an inclination to vote in our next election. To communicate environmental issues does not mean you have to have a Bachelor’s degree in the field, it means you have the passion and interest to spread the word just as much as Chris and I do on this blog. Not all of us are in a position to make policy changes on the environment. However, we are in a position to communicate as we are living in an era where access to information is easily accessible.
The experts don't always like sharing their stuff, they want their research to be published and usually it will stay within the academic community. Take what you can from what you learn (as we are all journalists in some kind of way) and start writing, sharing, telling and presenting what you know.... this can lead to more solidarity on the subject and lead to the government making more informed and fair decisions.
Key message: We are all environmental communicators in some sort of way. Continue to share your knowledge through the internet and media to get out salient information that the public needs to know more about.
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