Systemic challenges of modern climate communication: An insight into approaches of overcoming barriers and reshaping holistic narratives

Abstract

This thesis examines climate communication and its challenges from a systemic perspective. The idea is to take a systems approach to understand, critique, and reframe current narratives within our systems. It emphasizes that the scientific evidence on climate change is challenging and demands action from society. However, climate communication shows not only to be about mitigating climate change, but also about comprehensive implementation of sustainability. The work builds onthe idea that systemic structures of society are formative for narratives of communication and therefore need to be critically examined. The thesis further aims to provide insights into new narratives of climate communication. It is argued that by overcoming problems in current systems,contributions can be made to promote climate action. Climate communication in this sense needs future-oriented considerations for the actual implementation of social change.The systematic approach can generally be considered a highly relevant for scientific examinations.Especially for complex issues like climate change, which include both environmental and social aspects, a holistic approach is necessary. This can best be achieved by taking a systemic perspective, which assumes that all things are interconnected. Ultimately, systemic societalstructures in the political, economic and individual spheres must intervene and implement sustainability as much as possible. Only through a fundamental critical engagement with systemsissues can the interactions of earth and social systems be understood and solutions for positive change developed.Lastly, also narratives can take the holistic perspective and initiate change by intregating progressive approaches. At its core, the goal of climate communication is not just to bring scientific knowledge to the masses and generate understanding, but rather to foster storytelling that promotes a more equitable society based on values such as cooperation, well-being, and resilience. In this sense, climate communication is about much more than saving the planet. It is about developing a narrative that promotes hope for societal improvement on multiple levels.