Climate communication through a community perspective

Author

Kathryn McGee, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Spring 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Honors Interdisclipinary

Advisor(s)

Deborah Sturm

Mace L. Bentley

Jessica Turner-Skoff

Abstract

This project utilized psychology and science communication strategies to develop creative, locally framed climate change messaging. Through an online survey of 300 Gloucester County, VA residents, community themes of place attachment, environmental connection, risk assessment and climate change acceptance were recorded. Using the results from the survey I created a website, https://guidinggloucester.wixsite.com/home, which serves as an avenue for communicating with Gloucester residents. The website displays the results of the survey, explains climate change information that is relevant to Gloucester County, and gives examples of local actions to help increase engagement in climate solutions. In addition to the website, I propose using signs modeled after the Gloucester symbol, the beehive, to display information about environmental concerns is areas that citizens reported being highly attached to. Using place attachment and addressing community specific concerns can serve as a guide for framing climate change through a community perspective in rural, coastal communities.

Recommended Citation

McGee, Kathryn, "Climate communication through a community perspective" (2018). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 550.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/550