Combining role-play with interactive simulation to motivate informed climate action: Evidence from the World Climate simulation

PloS One
J N Rooney-VargaK Rath

Abstract

Climate change communication efforts grounded in the information deficit model have largely failed to close the gap between scientific and public understanding of the risks posed by climate change. In response, simulations have been proposed to enable people to learn for themselves about this complex and politically charged topic. Here we assess the impact of a widely-used simulation, World Climate, which combines a socially and emotionally engaging role-play with interactive exploration of climate change science through the C-ROADS climate simulation model. Participants take on the roles of delegates to the UN climate negotiations and are challenged to create an agreement that meets international climate goals. Their decisions are entered into C-ROADS, which provides immediate feedback about expected global climate impacts, enabling them to learn about climate change while experiencing the social dynamics of negotiations. We assess the impact of World Climate by analyzing pre- and post-survey results from >2,000 participants in 39 sessions in eight nations. We find statistically significant gains in three areas: (i) knowledge of climate change causes, dynamics and impacts; (ii) affective engagement including greater feelings o...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 12, 2019·Public Understanding of Science·Anke WonnebergerAndreas R T Schuck
Apr 18, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Roberta Kwok
Oct 15, 2020·Energy Research & Social Science·Felix Creutzig, Florian Kapmeier
Dec 24, 2020·Annual Review of Public Health·Stephan Lewandowsky

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Software Mentioned

World Climate
World
ROADS
SPSS Statistics

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