Social Change Institute @ Hollyhock from Stina Brown on Vimeo.

Mike Rowlands, President of Octopus Strategies, shares his reflections on the 2011 Social Change Institute. "In the face of the most complex problems mankind has ever confronted, simple answers don’t exist. Instead, effective resolutions require careful study and sensitive responses; “emergent practices” will present themselves as they percolate up out of wide-reaching collaborations."  For the full post.

Recent polling indicates that Canadians are more likely than Americans to support cap-and-trade and believe that global warming is occurring. Additionally, a majority of voters in Western states (Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) are skeptical about climate change, but support EPA regulation of CO2.  Read more.

Sustainable Bellingham's David MacLeod includes Climate Communications and Behavior Change in his list of recommended reading and has this to say about the guide: 

"I have thought a lot about the communication/behavior change problem, and have read a fair amount.  After a very brief skim of this document, it looks to me to be one of the most well thought out approaches along with being chock full of great practical suggestions. This looks to me like an essential blueprint that should be studied closely and applied widely! Read this document, and share it with your circles of influence!"

The Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) has launched a multimedia assembly program to present high school students with "climate science that sticks." The free program educates students about fossil fuels, carbon emissions and global warming through engaging speakers and animation.  ACE aims to mobilize students to become "climate heroes" and presents a hopeful vision of the future with young people as part of the solution. Watch the video here.

Grist's David Roberts asserts that adaptation may be the most effective way to approach climate change. Advocates have often avoided the topic of climate adaptation due to a fear that it seems defeatist, but mitigation and adaptation can be complementary strategies.  Citing our communications and behavior change work in his post "Time to ruggedize: We should talk more about preparing for climate change", Roberts describes the challenges of making global warming relevant to people's daily lives in order to promote public engagement. Talking about climate preparedness - or "ruggedizing" as Roberts proposes - can build social capital and increase resilience at the community level.

In the November 14, 2010 Washington Post op-ed, "How to stop global warming - even if you don't believe in it," Meg Bostrom (co-founder of the Topos Partnership) asserts that we should "stop assuming that we must first achieve unanimity on global warming science" and instead focus on "building support for specific solutions that all sides can agree on." Bostrom outlines three challenges to building support for strong climate policies; a focus on scientific consensus is confusing to the public, global warming can't compete with crises that seem more immediate to Americans, and party identify has been more powerful than scientific fact in determining one's opinion on the issue. It turns out, however, that even climate skeptics will support a "carbon-free energy future" because such approaches "are good for the planet, for human health, for energy independence and for our economy."  Read more.