This award to Colorado State University will establish a Phase I Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) in collaboration with the National Parks Conservation Association, the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. The overall goal of the CCEP Phase I project is to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts.
Nearly 30% of the United States is designated as federally owned and managed public lands, and this project will take advantage of the natural settings provided by national parks and wildlife refuges to communicate the impacts of climate change. With over 300 million annual visitors, national parks and wildlife refuges offer unique opportunities for climate change education. While visiting one of America's protected areas, citizens witness the impact of disappearing glaciers, increased wildfires, sea level rise, land erosion, and others. This project will focus on how our national parks and wildlife refuges can function as sites for educating diverse members of the public about climate change impacts, adaptations and actions. The audience targeted by this project includes national park and wildlife refuge interpretive staff and visitors, including school teachers and students. The specific goals are to (1) identify partners in parks and refuges interested in integrating climate change research into place-based learning and interpretive programming; (2) develop a comprehensive, climate change strategy for effective teaching and learning, specifically focusing on educational resources and tools rooted in parks and refuges; (3) create a framework for sharing resources, and (4) develop specific educational programs for the targeted groups. The vision is to build collaborative capacity to inspire citizens and communities to take action through informal public education.
By the end of this project, the PIs expect to have completed 1) an inventory of current scientific and educational resources, training opportunities, organizations, and practices, that identifies needs and opportunities related to climate change education; 2) identifying areas where additional learning science research is needed to further advance the effectiveness of climate change education; 3) several stakeholder workshops and other community-building activities that engage relevant stakeholders; 4) a comprehensive climate change education strategic plan integrating education and climate change information; and 5) identifying the most effective methods of engaging diverse audiences in climate change education. More information on this project is available by visiting http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/CCEP, or by contacting the PIs, Jessica Thompson (jes@warnercnr.colostate.edu) and Karen Hevel-Mingo (khevel-mingo@npca.org).
The Place-based Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) was an NSF-funded strategy planning project conducted in partnership with the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Parks Conservation Association. The goal of the strategy planning effort was to develop climate change communication tools and resources for interpretive staff at national parks and national wildlife refuges across the country. Our team worked directly with more than 400 NPS and USFWS employees and partners at 16 national parks and wildlife refuges in five regions across the country (Northern Colorado, the Puget Sound in Washington state, the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, Washington D.C., and Southern Florida). Strategy planning activities included: (1) a comprehensive literature review of climate change communication research, (2) interviews and surveys with agency managers and frontline staff (35 interviews, 847 surveys), (2) interviews and surveys with members of the target audience – park and refuge visitors (359 interviews and 1481 surveys), (3) five regional workshops, (4) 15 site visits and focus groups with agency staff, and (6) institutional capacity and infrastructure-building to provide resources for climate change communication and engagement within both agencies. Theoretical Perspectives Driving the Project The theoretical framework for this project was based on a combination of social science and education-based theories: (1) place attachment, (2) place-based education, (3) free choice learning and (4) norm activation theory (the full theoretical model is detailed in Schweizer, Davis & Thompson, 2013). These four theoretical threads explain that people form bonds to places (Altman & Low, 1992) and parks and refuges are no exception. These bonds function to develop an intimacy with the land, stimulating an effective learning environment in which to perceive changes to the landscape (Thomashow, 2002). In addition to being situated in a particular place, authentic learning also follows the desires and motivations of each individual learner and typically involves discussion with others (Falk, 2005; Falk & Deirking, 2002; Heimlich & Falk, 2009). The place-based communication context facilitates the maintenance and deepening of personal norms for performing pro-social and pro-environmental behaviors necessary to mitigate the impacts of climate change locally. National park and wildlife refuge visitors’ understanding of climate change is activated through four variables of engagement: (1) problem awareness, (2) ascription of responsibility, (3) perceived outcome efficacy, and (4) one’s ability to help. Practical Lessons from the Project's Research Survey and interview results revealed a population of visitors who care deeply about America’s public lands and natural landscapes and this audience differs significantly from the broader American public in regards to (1) their knowledge and opinions on climate change, (2) willingness to take mitigating actions, (3) perceptions of climate change impacts, and (4) desire for climate change education, communication and engagement. Results from the surveys show a disparity in staff perceptions of visitors’ thoughts regarding climate change. For example, only a small fraction (<9%) of park and refuge staff believed that their visitors were very or extremely concerned about climate change whereas subsequent surveys with visitors indicated that a majority of the audience (56%) was very or extremely concerned (see Figure 1). This disconnect illustrates that a lack of knowledge about the target audience often serves as a perceived barrier to discussing controversial issues, like climate change on federal land. Through focus groups and staff interviews our team identified the pervasiveness of this misconception, which hindered effective communication planning and allowed staff inaction regarding climate change communication. One NPS interpreter explained: "For me, interpreting climate change impacts is like interpreting the Civil War. I hope I never have to do it because I’m certain that half the group will be neo-Confederates nay-sayers…" Summary of Next Steps Based on our research, teams of agency-leads from each region designed a suite of place-based strategic communication actions/activities to deepen their audiences’ understanding of climate change processes and impacts. For example, four of the specific engagement activities developed during the course of the project included: (1) regional, climate change youth leadership summits with community service and citizen science components, (2) cross-jurisdictional interpretive "climate change" trails, which included consistent message and signage design throughout the region, (3) mobile media applications and downloads for information about site-based climate change impacts, and (4) changing landscapes themed communication and training modules for regional capacity building. Based on our research, we advocate the development of messages with a systems-based explanation in order to highlight the local changes and impacts observed at each park or refuge and how those impacts are connected to individual decision-making and behavioral choices – no matter how far away the visitor lives. Coupling meaningful social interaction with experiential, place-based learning opportunities is a way to foster community and facilitate a deeper understanding of climate change science and impacts.
