Positive framing is the key

I follow the blog aviewtosea.org, written by a lovely former UCL geographer. A recent post reminded me about the need for positivity when spreading environmental message. Too much negativity about environmental issues can be scary meaning people switch off and simply ignore the problems exist. Instead, by focusing on acknowledging the problem, then emphasising that we have the ability to make the necessary changes and doing so may help in other ways too (for example, reducing costs), people are more likely to feel empowered and feel like they can, and want to, make a change.

How we frame environmental problems and climate change is really important. What is a frame? Well, a hospital frame for example would include doctors, nurses, patients, acts of operating and getting better. All of our knowledge makes use of frames, and these frames are often connected with the emotional parts of the brain. Political ideologies are also characterized by frames; with repetition of a certain type of language and imagery serving to strengthen particular messages. The problem with environmentalism is that there hasn't yet been an effective framing system developed yet- people simply don't have the system of frames in place to make sense of the environmental facts that they are bombarded with while conservative climate skeptics and deniers have developed much more effective framing systems for their own environmental messages. As such environmentalists need to construct messages that build new framing systems as well as activate these new frames.

How to develop more effective environmental frames:

• don't repeat incorrect frames and messages from for example conservatives as this simply activates the wrong frames and messages in peoples' brains,
• tell stories that rouse emotions; don't simply give numbers and facts as their overall significance might not be understood,
• address everyday concerns, 
• use words people can understand- i.e. don't use technical jargon,
• visuals are really important for engaging people. The image below is quite striking in how it tells the story of the turtle simply and visually, rousing our emotions that the poor turtle might be eating a plastic bag instead of a jellyfish. It activates a frame in our minds of how we can protect the turtle, similar to how we wouldn't want harm to come to our pets. 

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