Inspiring Hope and Empowering Agents of Change: How the NOAA Office of Education Environmental Literacy Program Community Resilience Education Theory of Change Uses Illustration and Design to Evoke Visions of a More Sustainable Future

Abstract:

Visualizations of climate change and public engagement with this imagery helps to shape socio-political and cultural responses to climate change in significant ways (O’Neill and Smith 2013). By helping to depict the challenges posed by anthropogenic climate change, artistic renderings can create opportunities for individuals to contextualize these impacts in their own lives, thereby shifting societal attitudes and values, often leading to pro-environmental behavior changes (Roosen, Klöckner, and Swim 2017).

NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program (ELP) has released a new theory of change describing how K-12 and informal education assist in building community resilience to extreme weather, climate change, and other environmental hazards. Based on lessons learned from ELP grantees and a review of pertinent literature, the ELP Community Resilience Education Theory of Change articulates the rationale for investing in the education of children, youth, and adults so they are knowledgeable of the ways their communities can become more resilient to extreme weather, climate change, and other environmental hazards, and become involved in achieving that resilience. It provides a conceptual framework for the ways that community resilience education can lead to increased community engagement and civic action, ultimately leading to a healthier, more resilient, and equitable society.

Understanding the potential for visualizations to inspire change, the creators of the ELP Community Resilience Education Theory of Change collaborated with artist Jessica Bromley Bartram to bring their concepts to life. Combining illustration and graphic design, the theory of change evokes visions of a more sustainable future. Join us to learn more about the process of our collaboration, how the illustrations reinforce the concepts, outcomes, and goals articulated in our theory of change, and the impact we hope to make by combining art with science.

References:

O'Neill, S., and N. Smith. 2013. Climate change and visual imagery. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 5 (1):73-87.

Roosen, L., C. Klöckner, and J. Swim. 2017. Visual art as a way to communicate climate change: a psychological perspective on climate change–related art. World Art 8 (1):85-110.