Category: Climate change

Examining Values Can Affect Climate Change

Examining Values Can Affect Climate Change

I recently read an article about conference organized by the Scottish Government in June of 2010 which focused on the ways that psychology could work to address issues of climate change. The conference focused on examining human values and behaviors.

There was an interesting chart that was included in the article, called Scwartz’s Value Circumplex which charts values such as achievement, power, security, benevolence, and others. Tim Kasser, who presented at the conference, writes about how in order to engage people in issues of global warming, people’s ‘intrinsic’ values such as universalism and benevolence need to be engaged as opposed to their ‘extrinsic’ values such as power and achievement.  These ideas and the chart are included in the The Common Cause Handbook, a publication which calls itself “A Guide to Values and Frames for Campaigners, Community Organizers, Civil Servants, Fundraisers, Educators, Social Entrepreneurs, Activist.”  This book available for free to  download from www.valuesandframes.org.

This book and website were developed out of an effort in 2009 when several organizations from the U.K. including OxFam and World Wildlife Federation), and came together to discuss the inadequacy of current responses to challenges like climate change, global poverty and biodiversity loss. Research by experts in in social science and cognitive science was at the core of the discussion of how to approach motivating specific behaviors in individuals for social and environment change.

The handbook and website give an overview to values, talking about how values represent our guiding principles: our broadest motivations, influencing the attitudes we hold and how we act, why values matter, and how we use values.

How do values develop and change?   Over time, repeated engagement of values is likely to strengthen them.   Our repeated interactions with institutions (such as a school classroom, library, forest, or park) will affect our development of appreciation, achievement, or other values.  The interesting outcome of this type of thinking and analysis is that it has recently been implemented in order to adjust communication in order to appeal to the primary motivations of different groups of people.

Some examples are in order to promote volunteering, educational activities and charitable giving – this could be presented as opportunities personal gain. To promote value of human rights, these ideas can be promoted through fear, stating that any human rights abuse makes it less safe for all of us. Motiving environmental behavior can be promoted as “eco-chic” for those who value status, or as a way to save money for those who value being frugal.

The website has a lot of great resources, including some case studies you can review, an extended reading list, working groups you can join, and also a case study and blog area where you can contribute or participate  in a dialogue about these ideas.

Image Source:
www.valuesandframes.org

Links:

The Common Cause Handbook

www.valuesandframes.org

What Works in Behaviour Change?” Conference (28 June 2010)

Video – of Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

The Art of Mali Wu:  Can a city be turned back into a lake again?

The Art of Mali Wu: Can a city be turned back into a lake again?

Mali Wu is an artist from Taiwan who makes and also curates work that explores ecological issues and doing art projects that collaborate with communities.

Her work By the River, On the River, Of the River, made in 2006, she worked with communities that lived along northern Taiwan’s Danshui River. In Taipei, everyone has heard of the Danshui River, but not many people actually know what’s currently around or in the river.  The Danshui River is formed by 4 smaller rivers, and for the project she did river tracing of each river by crossing through Taipei in different boats.  The participants examined what the current water level and quality was.

The projec which had a symbolic significance was done in collaboration with the city of Taipei and the county’s community colleges. After the project, each college formed a river preservation alliance, and discussions about the river began to occur.

In 2008, Wu developed her project Taipei Tomorrow As Lake Again, which was part of the 2008 Taipei Biennale.  The piece was meant to be a criticism of the high amounts of pesticides that are used at the large international gardening exposition, the Flora Expo, which Taipei hosted that same year and to bring attention to the affect climate change could have on Taipei.

300 years ago, the location of Taipei was swamp and grassland, and the Taipei Basin was a lake.  In Wu’s garden installation Taipei Tomorrow as a Lake Again, she wanted to address global warming issues, and visualize what the city would be like if it was to become a lake again.  Working with urbanist group, Organisation of Urban Re-s (OURs), Wu planted a mobile kitchen garden on the terrace of the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.   Potatoes, peppermint, and other vegetables and herbs were bordered with up-side-down beverage crates that served as pathways between the garden beds.  Exhibition visitors were invited to harvest the garden.

The project also was comprised of an installation and a series of workshops and actions which included  Eco-building, Bike Paradise, Farm City and Flood Taipei. These were designed to stimulate discussion and to motivate people to take a new look at Taipei’s urban policy.

Taiwan is a country that imports most of its food, but environment questions are not commonly discussed.  With her piece, Mali Wu is proposing that the City of Taipei work to allocate cropland in the city so that in the future the country can provide for itself.

When asked about the role of art in environmental issues Wu says,”  I think art stimulates the mind, but I wouldn’t compare an artist to an environmentalist… Environmentalists are focused in making changes; artists, on the other hand, tell the same story with a different medium, they also give the mind an alternative suggestion – this, I think, is the only difference between the two.”(1)

Image Source:
Taipei Biennial

Links/Sources:

(1) Interview with Wu Mali

Wu Mali at the Taipei Biennial

Flora Expo

 

 

 

 

 

Gaming for Good – Winners of the PSFK and Climate Reality Project Game challenge.

Gaming for Good – Winners of the PSFK and Climate Reality Project Game challenge.

Earlier this year, PSFK and The Climate Reality Project challenged creative professionals to come up with concepts that address issues of climate change and to create potential game solutions.

The Climate Reality Project, which  focuses on the climate crisis as a problem that needs innovative solutions was founded and chaired by Al Gore and focuses on what they call one simple truth:  The climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it.

For the challenge – the games were to focus on climate change and meet one or more of these objectives:

•To Build Awareness
•To Promote Fundraising
•To Solve The Unsolvable
•To Embed Knowledge
•To Teach People New Skills
•To Improve Everyday Personal Behavior
•To Leverage Collective Manpower

 

In the Gaming for Good challenge, there were over 60 entries.  The strongest concepts were chosen by The Climate Reality Project, and are now viewable online.

I spent time checking out the winners of the Gaming For Good challenge.   One of my favorites is RealiTree, which is a game played where individual users of the game, while playing and making and tracking decisions in their lives contribute data that is merged through the game engine.  The users data that – once merged is used to  generate a large projected image of a tree in a public place which changes, based on the actions of the players. The tree is a visualization of the “health” of the climate and the choices of the users of the game.

Overall, my favorite games were built for mobile devices, and supported users in making green choices. The games can be viewed in an online presentation format on PSFK’s website.

Image Source:
PSFK.com – Gaming For Good Project

Links:

Gaming For Good Games – Climate Reality Project – Games (on PSFK) website

Gaming for Good homepage

Gaming For Good – The Climate Reality Project site

climaterealityproject.org

 

Tonight – Free Dial in Conference Call about Climate Change with 350.org

Tonight – Free Dial in Conference Call about Climate Change with 350.org

350.org is a group that online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions through volunteer organizers in over 188 countries.  The name of the group comes from the CO2 number of 350 parts per million, a number that scientists have said that we need reach.  Currently it is at 392 parts per million, and  the number 350 has become a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.

Last week, there was a nationwide brainstorm session about ideas of the future.  This collaborative “movement strategy session” was held in various institutions, living rooms, and community centers across the country.  These ideas were discussed either online or in person.

Tonight there is a conference call with Bill McKibben of 350.org to go over the best ideas that emerged last week. He also give an update about the latest political developments on the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Last week, a few Senators and Representatives in Congress introduced legislation to fast-track approval of the pipeline.

It is a one hour free phone call – and anyone can dial in.

The details for the call:

What: Climate Movement Strategy Sessions Debrief Call
When: Monday December 5th, 9 PM Eastern Time
To join: Call (712) 432-1001, and enter the access code 485501597#
On the web: There will be a online discussion chatbox so that indivudals can discuss what’s happening on the call without talking over each other: www.350.org/strategy-chat

Image Source:
350.org

 

Links:

350.org

www.tarsandsaction.org

 

Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence:  Biking to Work can Improve Health

Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence: Biking to Work can Improve Health

The Mind & Life Institute is a non-profit organization that seeks to understand the human mind and the benefits of contemplative practices through an integrated mode of knowing that combines first person knowledge from the world’s contemplative traditions with methods and findings from contemporary scientific inquiry.

The institute organizes Mind and Life Dialogues with the Dalai Lama, publications with report on these dialogues, a research institute, and other programs.

The “Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence,” Mind and Life XXII conference with the Dalai Lama and scholars, activitsts, and ecological scientists was held in Charamsalasa, India from October 17-21, 2011. The sessions were recorded, and you can watch sessions from the conference online.

In Session 2 of the conference : Interdependence Between the Environment and Our Health: Risk and Opportunities  the session began with a presentation by Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lead author of a new study highlighting the “four-way win” that comes with swapping cars for bikes: reduced greenhouse emissions and gains in air quality, fitness and the economy. Patz is also a professor in Madison’s Nelson Institute and Department of Population Health Sciences.

In the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Patz and his team looked at the Midwest states and  asked: What if during the nicest four months of the year, those residents biked instead of driving for round-trips of five miles or less?   According to their study, this could save approximately four trillion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, 1,100 lives and $7 billion in mortality and health care costs for the region every year.

You can watch present Patz present his study in the online video from the conference and talk about the health impacts and ethics of climate change, and the potential for environment and health improvements of interventions.

In the session, Patz said “Fighting global climate change could be one of the greatest public health opportunities we’ve had in a century.  “This is where I look to your wisdom and writing,” he added. “Everything starts with the individual — we start with ourselves.”

“Wonderful,” Dalai Lama replied, bowing his head to Patz. “Wonderful. Very good.”

Image Source:
www.performancebike.com

 

Links:

Video of – Mind and Life XXIII – Session 2 – Ecology, Ethics and Interdependence

Patz’s Study highlighting the “four-way win” of biking and health

The Mind and Life Institute

The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama