Inaugural International Climate Communication Conference

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Alt Text Lorem Ipsum Dolor — The conference was held on the campus of Renmin University

On October 12-13, 2013 in Beijing China we co-hosted an inaugural international conference entitled Climate Change Communication: Research and Practice. The conference was co-organized with the China Center for Climate Change Communication (China4C), a partnership of Oxfam Hong Kong and the Research Center for Journalism and Social Development at Renmin University and was held at Renmin. The conference aimed to convene and help catalyze the international community of climate change communication scholars and practitioners. This new field is growing rapidly around the world, as scientists, governments, the media, companies, and NGOs recognize the vital importance of effective communication about climate change. Globally, the field has achieved a critical mass and it is time to gather many of the world’s leading climate change communication experts together to share their insights, make connections, and help establish a global network.

Day 1 of the conference situated current scholarship within the larger field of communication theory and practice, presented the findings of survey research on the state of climate change knowledge, perceptions, policy preferences, and behavior around the world, and examined the design of effective messages about climate change.

Day 2 focused on the roles played by and message frames used by different messengers, the rapid evolution of traditional and new communication channels, and case studies of climate communication in practice, ranging from global multilateral organizations (e.g., IPCC) to targeted groups (e.g., youth).

Conference Media Coverage

Date	Title	Original Source	Reposts
10/15/13	Climate Change Communications Experts Meet in Beijing	Ecns.com
10/11/13	Effective Communication Essential to Addressing Climate Change	english.cntv.com
10/17/13	On Better Climate Change Communication	english.cri.cn
10/20/13	Dialogue 10/20/2013, Climate Change New Call For Action	CCTV-News
10/11/13	International Conference on Climate Change Communication Was Held In Beijing	Xinhua net	4
10/14/13	Expert: Public Understanding of Climate Change Remained Quite Low	Beijing Times	7
10/14/13	Climate Change Topic: Why Climate Change Always Mistifying?	Weather China	6
10/13/13	Zheng Baowei: Public Would Like to Make Efforts to the Adaptation of Climate Change	China Youth Daily	9
10/13/13	Zheng Baowei: Climate Change Communication Furthers its Step to Take Off	China News	8
10/9/13	China is Brainstorming in Order to Address Climate Change	China News	13
10/21/13	The Turning Point of Low Understanding Level of Public on Climate Change Might Come in 2014	21st Century Business Herald	11
10/19/13	Let the Public Understand Mitigation to Climate Change	China Economic Herald
10/22	Be Reliable Assistants to Address Climate Change	China Meteorological News	6
10/16/13	2013 International Conference on Climate Change Communication: Climate Change Communication Starts to Take Off in China	China Development Brief	2

气候传播国际会议 International Conference on Climate Change Communication 2013

For the full program including speakers, please download the PDF.

Day 1

Opening Ceremony and Welcome
The State of the Science of Climate Change
Situating Climate Change Communication: Scholarship
Climate Change Audiences: Public climate change knowledge, perceptions, policy preferences and behavior
Climate Change Communication Strategies
Concluding Speeches

Day 2

Climate Change Messengers
Clilmate Change Communication Channels
Case Studies I: A Global Effort to Communicate Climate Science and the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report; Climate Change Commitments: Implementation of Climate Change Policy and Increasing Public Awareness in EU Member States; China’s First Low Carbon Day: an example of a public campaign
Case Studies II: Climate Change and the Russian Media; Environmental Journalism in China; The Climate News Network; Broadcast Meteorologists as Climate Communicators
Case Studies III: Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Communications Approach; Seeds of Knowledge – UNEP’s Climate Change Solutions Program; Communicating to Encourage Action, Not to Scare
Case Studies IV: Campaign on Forests as Carbon Sinks in China; The Climate Action Coalition in China (the C+ Campaign); Climate Change Adaptation in China
Concluding Remarks and Next Steps

Conference Photos

beijing_tony,_moser,_maibach,_zheng — Left: YPCCC Director Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz; Prof. Baowei ZHENG, Director of the China Center for Climate Change Communication at Renmin University of China; Dr. Susanne Moser, Contributing Author to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and Director and Principal Researcher of Susanne Moser Research & Consulting; Edward Maibach Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.

Beijing_all_Cropped — Above (right): Javier Urbina-Soria, Professor at the School of Psychology, National University of Mexico, speaks about Public Awareness on Climate Change in Mexico. Dr. Urbina-Soria has published on the psycho-social dimensions of climate change. His current research at the School of Psychology focuses on environmental risk perception and communication, with an emphasis in climate change.

beijing_jt_tan_javier_panel_Cropped — Speakers on a panel titled, “Climate Communication Audiences: public climate change knowledge” (from left): Dr. Jagadish Thaker, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore; Dr. Mei-Ling Hsu, Professor of Journalism at the College of Communication, National Chengchi University in Taiwan; Dr. Javier Urbina Soria, Professor at the School of Psychology, National University of Mexico; and Mr. Tan Copsey, a research manager at BBC Media Action.

beijing_bb_lf_bz_peasant — Key conference organizers (from left): Ms. Binbin Wang, Executive Director of the China Center for Climate Change Communication and Manager of the Climate Change Team of Oxfam Hong Kong; Ms. Lisa Fernandez, Assistant Director at the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication; Prof. Baowei Zheng, Director of the China Center for Climate Change Communication. At right in the photo: Ms. Guirong Tian, founder of the only environmental protection association for Chinese farmers and a 2008 Olympic Torch Bearer.

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

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