The Environmental Communication School 2024 stresses the need to “move citizens to action” in the face of environmental challenges

13/09/2024

Mari Mar Alonso, Ihobe’s Director of Climate Action, and Mari Luz Gómez, Head of the Ihobe Citizenship project, explained some of the actions carried out within the framework of LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050, such as KLIMA Azoka.

The sixth edition of the course organised by Ihobe and the Association of Environmental Information Journalists (APIA) focused on the urgency of making progress in the energy and climate transition “where everyone’s collaboration is crucial”.

During the presentation, Alexander Boto, General Manager of Ihobe, highlighted the importance of forums such as the Environmental Communication School in order to “transfer scientific information to the political spectrum and the public, disseminate effective strategies and tackle disinformation”.

In a new conversation format, experts such as Fernando Valladares (CSIC), Asunción Ruiz Guijosa (SEO-Birdlife), Naiara Goia (Arantzazu Lab) and communicators such as Adela Úcar, Rafal Ruiz Peña, Yayo Herrero and Javier Peña took part.

Once again, the Environmental Communication School has brought together experts in the field of communications and the environment in a forum which, since it began in 2019, has become a space for reflection on the communication of major environmental challenges. The school, which is held at the Miramar Palace in Donostia and online within the framework of the Summer Courses of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the Donostia Sustainability Forum, is organised by Ihobe, the Basque Government’s Environmental Management Company, and the Association of Environmental Information Journalists (APIA).

The sixth edition took place on Thursday 12 September following a new format that included a series of talks in which a dozen professionals stressed the importance of “empowering citizens” in order to make progress in the energy and climate transition. Speakers included Ihobe’s Mari Mar Alonso, Ihobe’s Director of Climate Action, and Mari Luz Gómez, Head of Citizenship, who explained the policies put in place by the Basque Government through the Public Environmental Management Company to involve citizens in climate action.

With the title “Challenge: citizens’ assembly and social pact for the climate in the Basque Country", Alonso and Gómez explained some of the interventions that the government has started up “in order to give tools to citizens with the aim of raising awareness and educating in order to bring about transformation”. Some of these actions include the study carried out within the framework of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project to get a diagnosis of the psychological profiles of the population in the face of climate change, which can be divided into four types: apathetic, participative, committed and denialist. “With this diagnosis, what we want to do now is adapt information and education to these profiles in order to be more effective,” explained Alonso.

They also presented one of the experiences held under the umbrella of Urban Klima 2050: KLIMA Azoka, a travelling fair for families which aims to engage citizens and get them more involved and make them feel part of a movement.

Other projects were also presented, such as Erronka Garbia, the European Week for Waste Reduction and Asteklima, the Basque Country Climate and Energy Week. The activities that the Ekoetxea Network is continuously developing to “feel, touch and connect with each other again, creating experiences in nature that help to commit and to build people’s loyalty” were also presented.

Lastly, they mentioned the Energy Transition and Climate Change Law for the Basque Country, which was passed at the end of the last term of office, which, as they pointed out, includes the need for a fair transition, is committed to governance and aims to empower citizens in relation to the process of energy transition and climate change.

Inspirational conversations, a co-creation workshop and boat tour

The opening speech was given by Alexander Boto, General Manager of Ihobe, who highlighted that the Environmental Communication School is already “a successful collaboration that fulfils the objective of empowering citizens in the face of the climate crisis and environmental challenges”. He also stressed the importance of communication in order to “share the data offered by science, which is what must guide us to the political spectrum and the public with effective strategies and warning against disinformation”. He was accompanied by María Garcia de la Fuente, President of the APIA, and Yolanda Rodríguez Couso, Head of Strategic Communications at Ihobe.

Under the title “Conversations to empower citizens”, various round tables addressed issues such as the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity, the conservation of the natural environment, the implementation of the circular economy and sustainable development.

The first conversation, entitled “There’s still time” dealt with the current situation from an optimistic point of view. Moderated by journalist Adela Úcar, the talk featured science communicator Javier Peña, who explained some of the keys to communicating the climate emergency with the aim of resolving it, as demonstrated in Hope!, a communication project on social networks that has 2.5 million followers. He was accompanied by Fernando Valladares, CSIC scientist and university professor, who offered some of the keys to reaching the public through science.

Communication as an essential tool for encouraging citizen action in the face of climate change was the focus of the following round table moderated by Rafael Ruiz Peña, environmental journalist and coordinator of El Asombrario magazine. The participants were Yayo Herrero, consultant, researcher and professor, who is dedicated to science communication; and Asunción Ruiz Guijosa, Executive Director of SEO/BirdLife.

The morning session was closed by Naiara Goia Imaz, Managing Director of the Arantzazulab Social Innovation Laboratory, who focused her speech on “Perspectives of innovation to strengthen democracy and empower citizens” and “commitment to technology and more imagination and creativity”.

In the afternoon, those attending in person visited the natural and artistic environment of the island of Santa Clara and Hondalea by boat, thanks to the Cristina Enea Foundation. Online participants took part in a workshop on the co-creation of the Climate Mural led by Stéphane Kosinski, of the Adesio consultancy firm.

As a complement to the sessions, all those attending the UPV/EHU Summer Courses at the Miramar Palace have the opportunity to see the exhibition “Climate change is not funny”, created by the environmental magazine Ballena Blanca, where cartoonists from all over the world show their particular vision of this serious problem and its effects on health, the environment, the economy, and agriculture, among others.