Have Climate Conversations
The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it.
We all have someone in our lives who lowkey disagrees with or is outright against the fact that we are facing a climate crisis. In her Ted Talk, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe shows that the key to having positive conversations with folks like these is to connect over shared values like family, community and religion -- and to prompt people to realize that they already care about a changing climate. "We can't give in to despair," she says. "We have to go out and look for the hope we need to inspire us to act -- and that hope begins with a conversation, today."
On this page you'll find tools and tips to help you have positive conversations about climate change. If you have resources you'd like to share on this topic, contact us!
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing, or MI, is a communication technique that makes it more likely for folks to change. Before this year, we hadn't heard of MI before so don't worry if you haven't either! We've laid out a few tips from our friend Vince Schutt to help get you started as well as links where you can learn more. Check them out!
Meet CliMate, your climate conversation coach
The David Suzuki CliMate chatbot is ideal for learning about how to have productive and mutually-understanding conversations about the different perspectives and viewpoints surrounding climate change. Drawing from research in political and social psychology, this Facebook Messenger based bot evaluates possible responses in climate conversations, and explains what kind of reactions they can elicit. Overall, it will teach you how stop arguing and start understanding people.
Alberta Narratives
Communication Tools
The Alberta Narratives Project is a community-based initiative that aims to uncover language and narratives that reflect the values and identities of Albertans, and to find ways of talking about our energy-climate future that build bridges to better community conversation. The Project has two reports bringing forward the results of their research as well as communication tools designed to help you effectively communicate about climate change to a variety of Albertans.