UB researcher co-edits book inspiring climate change solutions through stories

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Helen Wang, PhD, a professor of communication in the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, has co-edited a book that leverages storytelling as a communication strategy to advocate for action, creative solutions and sustainable initiatives to address the threat of climate change.

Wang and her co-editor Emily Coren, a communication strategist and affiliate in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, have collaborated on “Storytelling to Accelerate Climate Solutions,” an open-access publication with 44 contributing authors, that they hope will create communities of practice — sharing knowledge, experience and insight — to create influential stories that empower people to take steps toward climate action and solutions.

The book, which has already received over 30,000 downloads, is a showcase of climate storytelling strategies in entertainment, education, literature, journalism and other related fields, exploring multiple genres and platforms. Coren and Wang present the current state of climate storytelling and share case studies and examples of what stories can move people toward action.

“It’s important to understand what well-designed stories can achieve,” says Wang.  “Stories have the ability to bring people together who might not otherwise find connections. Stories can raise awareness through their characters and storylines.”

Storytelling is a shared part of every culture. Throughout human history, stories have entertained and informed. Everyone is a storyteller, and stories, when purposefully crafted, can influence opinions and contribute to social transformation.

Stories are shortcuts to possibilities previously unimagined.

The role stories play, despite their fundamental human nature, is not always fully understood. People encounter stories, in one form or another, almost daily. That familiarity can lead to underestimating or entirely overlooking their power, especially when using stories to inspire social change.

The key is entertainment-education. It’s the common thread that ties together the book’s 20 chapters, each focused on a different type of story, including fiction, news, local narratives, interactive stories, music, stories told through food, and using visuals as a catalyst for climate science communication.

Entertainment-education is a research-based communication strategy that uses specific attributes and mechanisms in various media to highlight social issues in ways that have a higher chance of producing desired outcomes.

“Providing links to existing or newly created resources is an indispensable step for facilitating real actions from information-seeking and interpersonal discussion to community outreach and policy advocacy,” says Wang.

Some of the expected outcomes discussed in the book are already happening, but the book can still serve as a starting point for motivating others who, because of Coren and Wang, do not have to start from scratch.

“We are already hearing from people in all corners saying, ‘This book is exactly what we needed,’” says Wang.