MSGID: 1:317/3 64781ef8   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   social sciences to help tackle climate change    
    A team of researchers, led by Lancaster University, has been developing   
   accessible and creative means of communicating sustainability research from the   
   social sciences for policymakers and the wider public    
      
     Date:   
         May 31, 2023   
     Source:   
         Lancaster University   
     Summary:   
         A team of researchers has been developing accessible and creative   
         means of communicating sustainability research from the social   
         sciences for policymakers and the wider public. Using fairy tale   
         characters - - mermaids, vampires, and witches -- as metaphors,   
         the team has sought to communicate typically complicated arguments   
         in evocative and engaging terms.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   A team of researchers, led by Lancaster University, has been developing   
   accessible and creative means of communicating sustainability research   
   from the social sciences for policymakers and the wider public.   
      
   Using fairy tale characters -- mermaids, vampires, and witches --   
   as metaphors, the team, including researchers from the Universities   
   of Strathclyde and Manchester, have sought to communicate typically   
   complicated arguments in evocative and engaging terms.   
      
   Their paper, 'Telling Tales': Communicating UK energy research through   
   fairy tale characters, has been published in the journal, Energy Research   
   & Social Science.   
      
   Responding to some of the challenges of climate change (electricity   
   generation, low-carbon transport, plastic pollution), the research team   
   present three 'telling tales'. These 'translate' existing academic   
   research, taking inspiration from well-known fairy tale characters,   
   to cast this research in an accessible and powerful light:   
       * Renewables are mermaids -- alluring and attractive solutions for   
         policymakers to increasing energy demands, but a distraction from   
         other important routes to Net Zero, like demand reduction. Like   
         mermaid figureheads on sailors' ships, renewables should accompany   
         our transition to Net Zero but they should not be the only   
         destination.   
      
       * Cars are vampires -- dangerous entities that are deadly and   
       sucking the   
         wellbeing from communities by dividing divide workplaces   
         and retailing outlets from homes, creating lengthy   
         commutes. Policymakers have, until now, waved garlic at them,   
         to control how fast and where they travel, rather than reaching   
         for the stake and re-imagining everyday life without cars.   
      
       * Plastics are witches -- a complex category that is, say the research   
         team, misunderstood by the current witch-hunt against   
         plastics. Though they can be harmers (e.g., single-use plastics),   
         they also have 'healing' properties (i.e., durable and useful   
         materials that can substitute more damaging materials). Policymakers   
         should work towards systems of re-use to maximise their benefits,   
         rather than simply 'demonising' plastics in general.   
      
   Having developed these tales, the team worked with illustrator Ve'ronique   
   Heijnsbroek to create a range of inspiring images.   
      
   This work responds to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change   
   (IPCC) call for 'transformational adaptation'. This paper offers serious   
   messages and alternative policy approaches with the aim to accessibly   
   communicate the types of shifts that this will involve:   
       * Renewables, though important, are not the only measure required by a   
         future of fossil-free electricity generation. Demand reduction,   
         though a less attractive solution, must be considered to ensure   
         this future is possible.   
      
       * Cars are known to be deadly and dangerous, yet we have designed   
       daily   
         life and society around their use. More stringent measures are   
         required when thinking of what role they should play in future   
         societies.   
      
       * Plastics are currently demonised. Plastics are not to blame,   
       as much as   
         the systems of production, consumption, and disposal they are tied   
         up with. Policies should encourage systems of re-use to maximise   
         their benefits, rather than simply demonising plastics in general.   
      
   "It would be easy to interpret this work as a trivialisation of research   
   or, even, a patronisation of potential readers," says lead author Dr   
   Carolynne Lord, from Lancaster University.   
      
   "This is not our intention. The point is that communicating through   
   specialist language is not adequately conveying the message to the   
   communities that it needs to reach. We need to start communicating our   
   work in more accessible ways."  Dr Torik Holmes, from the University of   
   Manchester, adds: "Storytelling has been gaining traction in the field   
   of energy research in the social sciences.   
      
   We've built on this through the use of fairy tale characters to argue how   
   UK policy reflects a fixation with renewables, over cautionary responses   
   to car ownership and use, and too narrow understandings of, and reactions   
   to, plastics."  And Dr Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, from the University   
   of Strathclyde, comments: "Communicating in new and intelligible   
   ways that combine the complexity of research with inspiring stories is   
   important. There is now a real urgency in which transformative responses   
   to climate change are required. Though much social science work offers   
   potential solutions, it can do so in a way that is hard to understand by   
   those who have the power to make change a reality."  The authors hope   
   their concept will inspire the scientific community to recommunicate   
   energy-based social science research in more digestible forms.   
      
   They plan to hold an online workshop starting the 28th of August with   
   other researchers and illustrators to develop and extend this cast   
   of characters.   
      
   More information can be found here:   
   https://tellingtalesofenergyresearch.wordpress.com/.   
      
   Their hope is that by moving research findings beyond academic circles,   
   and to policymakers and popular audiences, this type of work can help   
   bring about the changes required.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Social_Psychology # Relationships # Creativity   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Environmental_Issues # Environmental_Awareness #   
                   Energy_and_the_Environment   
             o Science_&_Society   
                   # Environmental_Policies # STEM_Education # Energy_Issues   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Social_science o Public_services o The_arts o Double_blind o   
             Public_health o Funding_policies_for_science o Social_psychology   
             o Social_movement   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Lancaster_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Carolynne Lord, Katherine Ellsworth-Krebs, Torik Holmes. `Telling   
      tales':   
         Communicating UK energy research through fairy tale   
         characters. Energy Research & Social Science, 2023; 101: 103100 DOI:   
         10.1016/ j.erss.2023.103100   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230531101550.htm   
      
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