Public Engagement on Climate and Health in Museums and Participatory Dialogues may Foster Behavior Change

Abstract

As scientific knowledge grows and the planet's human population makes unprecedented changes, decision-making places more and more demands on the everyday democratic participant. Yet efforts to help the public acquire and make use of evidence-based information fall short. We present preliminary comparisons of three participatory design models of public engagement with science designed to encourage community action rather than just raise awareness in participants on local public health issues impacted by climate change. We collected survey data at two in-person community-based participatory dialogues and a museum exhibit and presented but received no surveys from televised versions of the participatory dialogues. Results indicated that behavior change was indeed salient to participants. Actions participants plan to take included sharing what they learned, contacting legislators, and direct conservation efforts. Future research should study whether participants undertake planned actions and do so in groups rather than as individuals.

Theory-based Science Communication at Comic Cons

“…Each scientist was observed for 30-minutes multiple times during the comic con, as scientists would take 30-minute shifts at the pop-up museum booth. When possible, two observers would observe the same scientist as a form of data checking (Spradley, 1980).…”

Aquarium Visitor Engagement with an Ocean Plastics Exhibit: Effects on Self-Reported Intended Single-Use Plastic Reductions and Plastic-Related Environmental Stewardship Actions

“…While environmental stewardship and sustainability topics can and should be approached in the classroom, informal learning is a powerful avenue to provide information to broad audiences (Ham & Krumpe, 1996). Exhibits and programming encountered in informal learning settings can leave lasting impressions and influence long-term behaviors that may better support conservation actions (Ballantyne et al, 2007;Clayton et al, 2009;Stofer et al, 2019). Exhibits and educational campaigns with effective messaging, and those which link conservation goals to concrete everyday life, can empower people and ultimately turn behavioral intentions into actions (e.g., Ballantyne et al, 2007;Chase et al, 2009;Korkala et al, 2014;Leisher et al, 2012;Napper & Thompson, 2020;Sujata et al, 2019).…”

Rapid sleep education: If you could tell people one thing about sleep, what should it be?

“…Another distinguishing feature of informal learning settings is that learning is not about earning grades or retaining facts; instead, the goal is to incite interest and build positive socioemotional experiences (Gupta, Fraser, Rank, Brucker, & Flinner, 2019; National Research Council, 2009). Such characteristics are known to be beneficial for encouraging behavioural change (Shen, Wu, Wall, & Tong, 2020; Stofer et al, 2019).…”