Resource Type: Social Science Research

Using humor in climate change communication can be persuasive to young audiences. A humorous video about climate change made survey respondents less fearful and more likely to perceive grave risks from climate change. However, humor did not increase intentions to engage in activism. Humor did not have any effect on older than their teens or early twenties. The rest of this resource replicated previous research and found no effects of humor or a threatening video on risk perceptions or intentions to engage in activism.

Certain organizing strategies can allow activists to develop leadership skills in different ways. In Australia, the organization School Strike for Climate (SS4C) has generated more involvement among high school students in the climate movement. SS4C has particularly employed some tactics such as “peer learning, mentoring, learning by doing, confrontation, reflective spaces and training” to allow new high school activists to develop leadership skills. SS4C used movement tactics such as mobilizing, organizing, and lobbying politicians, and these different avenues for involvement also allowed new activists to engage in different ways to develop different skills, and lead others in doing them. These different tactics also have different strengths and weaknesses in facilitating leadership development through their execution.

Many people communicating for social change are exploring how to tell diverse and inclusive stories that center marginalized communities while building understanding about how inequality persists. Intersectionality is an important tool to help us tell great stories that help us understand systemic issues. Five guiding principles to telling intersectional stories: Show, don’t tell; Provide historical context; Uplift the voices of marginalized people; Tell whole stories; and, Radically reimagine the world.