Communicating Climate Change through ICT-Based Visualization: Towards an Analytical Framework

Victoria Wibeck, Tina-Simone Neset, Björn-Ola Linnér
2013 Sustainability  
The difficulties in communicating climate change science to the general public are often highlighted as one of the hurdles for support of enhanced climate action. The advances of interactive visualization using information and communication technology (ICT) are claimed to be a game-changer in our ability to communicate complex issues. However, new analytical frameworks are warranted to analyse the role of such technologies. This paper develops a novel framework for analyzing the content, form,
more » ... ontext and relevance of ICT-based visualization of climate change, based on insights from literature on climate change communication. Thereafter, we exemplify the analytical framework by applying it to a pilot case of ICT-based climate visualization in a GeoDome. Possibilities to use affordable advanced ICT-based visualization devices in science and policy communication are rapidly expanding. We thus see wider implications and applications of the analytical framework not only for other ICT environments but also other issue areas in sustainability communication. 4761 identified an increasing trend in the amount of scholarly papers addressing the issue of how to communicate the scientific basis of climate change, as well as its implications and relevant action strategies, in ways that encourage learning and engagement among various audiences [2] [3] [4] [5] . During the last decade, the climate change communication literature has shifted its focus from public understanding of climate change and questions related to how to address information deficits and increase scientific literacy among audiences, to the issue of barriers and driving forces for public learning and engagement in climate change [4, 5] . For instance, the potential of encouraging learning and engagement through public and stakeholder participation in deliberative fora such as focus groups, workshops or consensus conferences has been highlighted [6, 7] . However, such initiatives are often limited to a small group of citizens, and there is a risk that only specific groups, such as people with strong opinions or privileged socio-economic backgrounds choose to participate [8] . Another way of communicating climate change, which has the potential of including larger audiences, is to use advances of information and communication technology (ICT) to communicate complex sustainability issues, e.g., through visual representations of both geospatial and abstract data [9] [10] [11] . In particular, the interactive potentials of new and emerging ICT may hold a potential to facilitate communication beyond the deficit model of climate communication and engage audiences in climate-related issues [12] . This paper contributes to the transdisciplinary field of science communication known as climate visualization, which we define as "interactive research platforms, which use computer graphics to create visual images of the causes and effects of climate change and of mitigation and adaptation options" ([12], p. 5). ICT-based visualization is often claimed to provide a powerful means of communicating large amounts of data [13] , but there is a lack of systematic studies analyzing how it affects audiences' understanding of complex sustainability phenomena, such as climate change. This paper develops a framework for analyzing the content, form, context and relevance of ICT-based climate change visualization, based on insights from literature on climate change communication (CCC). The full review of CCC literature published between 2000 and 2011 is reported in a previous paper [5] . For the purposes of the present paper, we will highlight recommendations from this literature regarding how to communicate climate change and use the lessons learnt from the CCC literature as input to construct an analytical framework. Thereafter, we apply the analytical framework to reflect upon a pilot case taken from the WorldView visualization project, which uses immersive dome visualizations to communicate causes, effects and responses to climate change with a variety of audiences. Such reflection is in our view a critical step in developing ICT-based visualizations that are perceived by their audiences as being relevant and informative. The paper focuses on the case of an interactive dome visualization, one of the rapidly growing areas of ICT-based science communication, since this type of visualization is becoming increasingly common in planetariums and science centres around the world and is popular with both lay and expert target groups. Moreover, the format provides an apt environment for designing controlled studies of interactive visualization. The findings are however applicable to other areas of interactive science communication. With the rapid development of the interactive entertainment industry, possibilities to use affordable advanced ICT based visualization devices in science and policy communication are rapidly expanding. We thus see wider implications and applications of our analytical framework not only for other ICT environments but also other issue areas in sustainability communication.
doi:10.3390/su5114760 fatcat:ql6clwsdyzgzrakmezfylanmuq