Blogs

Environmental groups in Canada may be cash-poor, but they are people-rich. And that means 'voters'.

On the heals for the 2011 Stonehouse Standing Circle meeting in December where we addressed the question "How do we get climate back on the public policy agenda?", comes this very insightful paper by Matt Price. Matt's paper "Revenge of the Beaver" speaks to just that question as well as the challenges environmental groups face with being effective.

He says "...we face the opportunity of a growing chafing against authority by those who are fed up with elected officials and businesses....", now is a golden opportunity to act differently. He speaks of how we need to make decision-makers understand by developing relationships with...

The Breakthrough Institute's, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, recently revised their 2004 essay "Death of Environmentalism" with the more uplifting "The Long Death of Environmentalism". I do not necessarily agree with their essay, but the authors raise some uncomfortable issues that need to be discussed.

Here is an excerpt:

If in 2004 we argued that environmentalism needed to die, today it's clear that it did. What killed it was neither our essay, nor fossil-funded skeptics, nor this or that tactical failing by green leaders or Democratic politicians. Rather, environmentalism died of old age. The world in which we live, economically...

 What is the best design for a national climate change engagement, education and communications campaign? How do we encourage Canadians (and Americans) to support local, regional and national policies to reduce emissions through either passive acceptance or vocal demand?

This new paper outlines what leading communication thinkers and social change practitioners have to say about these difficult questions.

The paper (attached below) takes an honest look at the environmental movement’s current strategy to communicate with and engage the public. It discusses internal and external restrainers and drivers of transformative change, and outlines how environmentalists can become more effective messengers and create an ‘environmental culture’, not just...

 Those in government and nonprofits trying to communicate to the public about climate change say that they often lack the time and resources to digest the latest research and incorporate it into their campaigns. ClimateAccess.org is a bridge between researchers and practioners. It is timely, and already over 100 people have signed up!

In the fall of 2011, The Resource Innovation Group’s Social Capital Project, in partnership with the Rutgers Initiative on Climate and Social Policy and the Stonehouse Standing Circle, launched Climate Access to...