Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10301
Title: Communicating Ecology Through Art: What Scientists Think
Contributor(s): Curtis, David (author); Reid, Nick  (author)orcid ; Ballard, Guy-Anthony (author)
Publication Date: 2012
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.5751/ES-04670-170203Open Access Link
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10301
Abstract: Many environmental issues facing society demand considerable public investment to reverse. However, this investment will only arise if the general community is supportive, and community support is only likely if the issues are widely understood. Scientists often find it difficult to communicate with the general public. The role of the visual and performing arts is often overlooked in this regard, yet the arts have long communicated issues, influenced and educated people, and challenged dominant paradigms. To assess the response of professional ecologists to the role of the arts in communicating science, a series of constructed performances and exhibitions was integrated into the program of a national ecological conference over five days. At the conclusion of the conference, responses were sought from the assembled scientists and research students toward using the arts for expanding audiences to ecological science. Over half the delegates said that elements of the arts program provided a conducive atmosphere for receiving information, encouraged them to reflect on alternative ways to communicate science, and persuaded them that the arts have a role in helping people understand complex scientific concepts. A sizeable minority of delegates (24%) said they would consider incorporating the arts in their extension or outreach efforts. Incorporating music, theatre, and dance into a scientific conference can have many effects on participants and audiences. The arts can synthesize and convey complex scientific information, promote new ways of looking at issues, touch people's emotions, and create a celebratory atmosphere, as was evident in this case study. In like manner, the visual and performing arts should be harnessed to help extend the increasingly unpalatable and urgent messages of global climate change science to a lay audience worldwide.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Ecology and Society, 17(2), p. 1-15
Publisher: Resilience Alliance Publications
Place of Publication: Canada
ISSN: 1708-3087
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 160899 Sociology not elsewhere classified
160802 Environmental Sociology
170113 Social and Community Psychology
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 441099 Sociology not elsewhere classified
441002 Environmental sociology
420403 Psychosocial aspects of childbirth and perinatal mental health
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 960302 Climate Change Mitigation Strategies
950199 Arts and Leisure not elsewhere classified
850799 Energy Conservation and Efficiency not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 190301 Climate change mitigation strategies
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations

79
checked on Aug 17, 2024

Page view(s)

1,064
checked on Mar 7, 2023
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.