• Energy Research

Cultivating a more dynamic relationship between science and policy is essential for responding to complex social challenges such as sustainability. One approach to doing so is to "span the boundaries" between science and decision making and create a more comprehensive and inclusive knowledge exchange process. The exact definition and role of boundary spanning, however, can be nebulous. Indeed, boundary spanning often gets conflated and confused with other approaches to connecting science and policy, such as science communication, applied science, and advocacy, which can hinder progress in the field of boundary spanning. To help overcome this, in this perspective, we present the outcomes from a recent workshop of boundary-spanning practitioners gathered to (1) articulate a definition of what it means to work at this interface ("boundary spanning") and the types of activities it encompasses; (2) present a value proposition of these efforts to build better relationships between science and policy; and (3) identify opportunities to more effectively mainstream boundary-spanning activities. Drawing on our collective experiences, we suggest that boundary spanning has the potential to increase the efficiency by which useful research is produced, foster the capacity to absorb new evidence and perspectives into sustainability decision-making, enhance research relevance for societal challenges, and open new policy windows. We provide examples from our work that illustrate this potential. By offering these propositions for the value of boundary spanning, we hope to encourage a more robust discussion of how to achieve evidence-informed decision-making for sustainability.

In the light of inadequate global emissions mitigation, geoengineering - solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal - is increasingly being positioned and problematized by some researchers, policymakers, and advocates as a partial solution for avoiding catastrophic levels of warming. However, there are concerns that geoengineering may serve as a rhetorical tactic for delaying emissions reduction. As the news media field is an important space in which storylines surrounding geoengineering are created and circulated, the manner in which media actors discuss these topics is an important factor that can legitimate some policy pathways and close off others. In this paper, we analyze patterns in news media coverage of geoengineering in Australia to identify four dominant storylines: “a symptom of systems failure”, “silver buckshot”, “the Faustian bargain”, and “time for plan B”. We consider the implication of these storylines for the role that geoengineering may play in the Australian climate policy regime. We identify a risk geoengineering may be positioned as a rhetorical tactic for delaying emissions reduction. However, we note that the storylines in the public sphere provide a basis for public debate that engages critically with geoengineering, engaging with risks and differentiating solar radiation management from carbon dioxide removal.

Abstract Climate change emerged as an issue of science, but its broad ranging impacts and potential mitigation strategies mean it is of significance to all people across sectors, interests, and nations. As a result, the traditional fact-centred way of communicating information about climate change is not necessarily the best strategy for engaging the full breadth of publics. In communication practice and scholarship, framing is an approach that emphasises certain attributes of an issue over others and as a consequence shapes how that issue is understood. This has led to the scholarly exploration of framing as a technique for tailoring climate change communication to engage diverse publics. Over the past two decades, research has examined a range of different frames for the communication of climate change, such as Public health, National security and Economic prosperity/development. With this literature now rapidly expanding, it is crucial to synthesise existing evidence so that future research efforts and climate communication interventions are best informed about the current knowledge-base and research gaps. This article presents this synthesis in the form of a systematic map. We systematically searched scholarly (Scopus and Web of Science) and grey literature databases for English-language climate change framing literature. All articles were screened at the title/abstract and full-text level, with included articles incorporated into a Microsoft (MS) Excel database. The information extracted from the literature included bibliometric, geographical and other data pertaining to study design and the climate change frames examined. Our systematic map includes 274 articles (281 studies). The most common frames appearing in this literature base (making up about 50% of the total) were Scientific, Economic and Environmental. Other frames such as Public health, Disaster and Morality/ethics appear to be gaining more scholarly attention in recent years. Almost half of the collected studies are from the United States but there is a growing trend of studies comparing climate change frames from other countries. Climate change frames are numerous and can have different efficacies depending upon country and social-political context. Research needs to be reflexive in its approach to understand the broader impact of framing in climate change communication and should continue to employ multi-national studies and explore climate change framing effects in under-researched nations to combat bias.

Cambodian subsistence communities within the Tonle Sap Great Lake area rely on resource extraction from the lake to meet livelihood needs. These fishing communities-many of which consist of dwellings floating on the lake-face potentially profound livelihood challenges because of climate change and changing hydrology due to dam construction for hydroelectricity within the Mekong Basin. We conducted interviews across five village communities, with local subsistence fisher people in the Tonle Sap in 2015, and used thematic analysis methods to reveal a fishery system that is undergoing rapid ecological decline, with local fishing communities increasingly experiencing reductions in available fish stocks. As a result, over 100 000 people living in these communities are experiencing a direct loss of well-being and livelihood. We discuss these losses and consider their implications for the future viability of Cambodian floating village communities.

AbstractAlthough we are in the third decade of climate science communication as a discipline, and there is overwhelming scientific consensus and physical evidence for climate change, the general public continues to wrestle with climate change policy and advocacy. Early adolescence (12 to 13 years old) is a critical but under-researched demographic for the formation of attitudes related to climate change. This paper presents opinions on the worry, cause, and imminence of climate change that were collected fromn=463 1styear secondary school students (12-13 years old) in public secondary schools in inner-urban centres in Austria and Australia. Overall, 86.83% of eligible respondents agreed that climate change was probably or definitely something we should worry about, 80.33% agreed that climate change was probably or definitely caused by humans, and 83.17% agreed that climate change was probably or definitely something that was happening now. The respondents’ opinions were also compared to their respective adult population, with Australian 12-13 year olds showing strong positive climate-friendly attitudes, both in comparison to their adult population, and to their Austrian peers. In addition, although the opinions of Austrian 12-13 year olds were quite high, they did not reflect the higher climate-friendly opinions of their adult community. Our results suggest that socio-cultural worldview or socio-cultural cognition theory may not have the influence on this age group as it does on the respective adult population – and, if they are affected, there are attitudes or factors in this age group which resist the opinion-influence from their mature community. These findings are significant as early adolescents may be pivotal in the climate science communication arena and investigating their opinions with regard to climate change may offer an unexplored and under-utilised target for future communication efforts and climate literacy programmes.

Abstract Australia is undergoing an energy transition, largely spurred by efforts toward decarbonisation prompted by climate change. The energy transition, though, is socially and politically complex, particularly where the transition is felt most viscerally such as in resource-dependent regional communities. In this paper, I explore the social-political dimension of the energy transition in Australia by analysing a specific episode of social-political conflict: a multi-week, moving protest against a large thermal coal mine currently planned for development in Queensland, Australia, Adani Mining's Carmichael Coal Mine. The contestation was related to an ‘Anti-Adani Convoy’ that travelled from the southern-most state of Australia, Tasmania, to the regional Queensland community, Clermont, nearest the proposed mine site in mid-2019. The analysis is grounded in the social psychology tradition of the Social Identity Approach, and applies a model for exploring how social context makes salient certain identities and norms (the Situated Identity Enactment model). Social identity dimensions are explored via qualitative coding of online news media reporting on the Convoy, and from this analysis identity-based insights are drawn regarding the social-political dynamics of the energy transition in Australia. The Convoy experience indicates that regional communities are unlikely to be convinced about the need for the energy transition––or decarbonisation specifically and climate action more broadly––by advocates from afar who adopt tactics that appear as a threat to one group from another group. Instead, the energy transition will be best served by place-based, bottom-up initiatives that are congruent with local identity, values, preferences, and priorities.

AbstractWind is recognised as a key source of renewable energy. Despite broad public support for the sector, wind energy proposals have routinely triggered social conflict and localised opposition. To promote social acceptance and avoid conflict, the wind energy sector undertakes community engagement. This paper interrogates the community engagement undertaken in King Island (Tasmania, Australia) for a large scale wind energy development proposal which did not proceed to implementation due to external economic factors. Despite the proponent's adoption of what was described as a ‘best practice’ community engagement strategy, the proposal caused significant social conflict for the community. In-depth interviews (n=30) were conducted with members of the King Island community and were qualitatively analysed through the social identity lens. Five key drivers of the local conflict were identified: problematic pre-feasibility engagement; the lack of a third-party facilitator of the community consultative committee; holding a vote which polarised the community; the lack of a clear place in the engagement process for local opposition, and; the significance of local context. These findings are instructive for improving community engagement practice for wind energy and other energy generation and land use change sectors.