For over a decade, FrameWorks has studied public perceptions of global warming and its effects. Beginning in the US in 1999, with funding from the Turner Foundation, FrameWorks undertook a comprehensive body of qualitative and quantitative research for the Climate Message Project, culminating in a campaign and toolkit designed for this diverse coalition of environmental groups. In 2006, the David Suzuki Foundation asked FrameWorks to duplicate the research in Canada, and a new round of framing research was conducted to update and compare perceptions of climate change among Canadians.
At the same time, FrameWorks began a related project documenting how Americans think about oceans, including the impact of climate change. This work was supported by a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ocean Conservancy on behalf of a broader network of groups, in anticipation of the release of a number of landmark reports on the state of the world’s oceans. That framing research informed such influential groups as the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
In 2009, FrameWorks combined this body of work to support the growing number of aquariums that seek to explain the science of climate change and ocean acidification to the millions of visitors that pass through their doors each year. Working under the leadership of the New England Aquarium, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), FrameWorks conducted a secondary analysis of its research data and developed materials to inform an intensive workshop for aquarium communicators.
The success of this pilot project gave birth in 2010 to the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) and a series of Strategic Framing Study Circles designed to help aquarium and zoo interpreters frame issues of climate change and oceans in ways that educate, rather than alienate visitors. With funding from the National Science Foundation, FrameWorks is offering a series of workshops, homework assignments, webinars, an active Blog and collaborative messaging projects to support the incorporation of Strategic Frame Analysis™ into the everyday practices of science interpreters.
Products and Tools - Key Framing Guides
Navigating the Swamp. A graphic representation of the swamp cultural models people use to think and talk about about climate change and oceans.
You Say… They Think. An analysis of a series of frame clashes – you, the scientist or advocate, say one thing and the public thinks another.
Basic Message Template. An outline of a new frame for communicating about climate change and oceans.
Our Recommendations
How to Talk about Climate Change and Oceans (2009) This brief summary draws from FrameWorks’ research on public perceptions of climate change, oceans and other environmental issues over the past decade. This work includes both qualitative and quantitative research, including cultural models interviews, focus groups, media content analyses and experimental surveys. It is further informed by FrameWorks’ judicious attention to the work of opinion scholars.
