Welcome & Updates
Welcome to the latest edition of the Climatubers newsletter! As a reminder, we are an Erasmus+ project, working with participatory video in European vulnerable communities, to showcase the social inclusion dimension of climate change.
This edition includes news about ongoing activities and consortium updates, an interview with an environmental communications expert and yet another consortium video. Let’s go!
Screenings
Over the past few months public screenings of the Climatubers videos have taken place, with the aim to share the videos with external audiences and have open discussions about the video topics.
Our consortium members organised successful events in Granollers, Vienna, Lyon, Tallinn, and Cagliari, inviting the general public, but also educators, policy makers, local authorities, and other social actors.
Announcement of public screenings in Granollers (top) and Lyon (bottom)
Tallinn meeting
We’ve had yet another consortium meeting (Apr 2023), this time in Tallinn, Estonia, the European Green Capital for 2023. The meeting was focused on designing a project output most crucial for sharing our experience and results; that is, the online learning tools for implementing the PV methodology.
In fact, as this newsletter goes out, the development of the Climatubers online course is under way.
Stay tuned for the official launch of the course, expected in September 2023!
Partners discussing updates during the Tallinn meeting of the Climatubers consortium
Hespul video
The video is an interview that Endurae took from Maïté Garnier from Hespul concerning their experience in implementing the PV process. It is interesting to get to know an insider’s perspective about the benefits and challenges of running PV workshops. You can watch the video below:
Another publication! Our SLERD paper
As promised, we are happy to announce more publications coming out of the project:
A paper co-written by our partners ZSI and Endurae was accepted and just presented at the 8th conference on Smart Learning Ecosystems and Regional Development. Drawing from the overall Climatubers project experience, the paper, titled “A Case Study of Participatory Video as Teaching Digital Storytelling against Climate-driven Inequalities” discusses opportunities and limitations of PV for underprivileged groups in Europe concerning Climate Action inequalities.
Check below a recording of the paper presentation, which took place at Tallinn University:
Throughout the project duration we’ve had the opportunity to interact with experts on climate and environmental issues on topics of knowledge transfer and communication methods. We are very pleased to host in this newsletter an interview with Mona Jensen (Something Green), a communications consultant and member of the Advisory Board of Endurae.
Interview with Mona Jensen
- Who are you and what do you do? What is your role on Climatubers?
I am a communications consultant and copywriter in the field of sustainability with a background in environmental planning. I founded my company, Something Green, with the goal of helping companies promote sustainable practices through behavioral change psychology and environmental communications. My role in ClimaTubers is to advise on general environmental communication and how to disseminate the knowledge gathered in the span of the project.
- How should organisations communicate about climate change? Especially without scaring their audience?
There are many ways to communicate climate change, but a key factor is to give the audience agency. It’s highly important to give your audience the tools needed to act; otherwise, you risk scaring them into a frozen state.
- Has social media changed communication needs and methods and, if yes, how?
Yes, in many ways. We see a more democratic approach to information sharing, awareness campaigning, and calls for action as grassroots organizations and anyone with a passion to make a change now can share their message with anyone. We see a direct correlation between the social media campaign against plastic and the growing bans on single-use plastic. It also requires communicators to be on the beat of trends and to tap into the zeitgeist
- Finally, how to communicate specifically to policy makers (local to EU). In your experience, what clicks with them?
When communicating to policymakers, it’s especially important to highlight the value of environmental action, for instance, how many Euros will be saved on infrastructure, what’s the expected growth in export and green industries, or how many lives will be saved due to better air quality. Quantifying environmental efforts is key when communicating to policymakers.
“There are many ways to communicate climate change, but a key factor is to give the audience agency. It’s highly important to give your audience the tools needed to act”
— Mona Jensen
That’s it for this newsletter! We will come back with news from our ongoing activities next time. Subscribe and follow us on our social to receive more from us. Until then, share your climate story!