Program Details

Conversations about climate change at the science-policy interface and in our lives have been stuck. In this webinar Professor Boykoff highlights dimensions of his recent book ‘Creative (Climate) Communications’ that integrate lessons from the social sciences and humanities to more effectively make connections through issues, people, and things that everyday citizens care about.

He suggests that this has worked to enhance our understanding that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to communications about climate change. He argues that a ‘silver buckshot’ approach is needed instead, where strategies effectively reach different audiences in different contexts.

Tactics emanating from this approach can then significantly improve efforts that seek meaningful, substantive, and sustained responses to contemporary climate challenges. He suggests that this can also help effectively re-capture a common or middle ground on climate change in the public arena. The presentation will highlight endeavors that harness creativity to try to better understand what kinds of communications work where, when, why, and under what conditions in the twenty-first century communication environment.

Professor Boykoff’s webinar concludes SFWAF’s Warming World four part spring webinar series on Climate Change. Please look for videos of previous presentations on our website videos library.

Max Boykoff is a Professor in the Environmental Studies Department (where he now serves as Chair) at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also a Fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. Among his ongoing work, Max was a contributing author to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on mitigation and policy action that was released April 4 and he has been an advisor on the ‘Don’t Look Up’ film project.