Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Author and podcast host of How to Save the World, Katie Patrick, helps people create rapid environmental change through behavioral science techniques. In this fireside chat, Katie challenges the doom and gloom beliefs that come with climate change and dives deeper into how we can create positive change while having meaningful conversations.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
As a climate action designer, Katie taps into people’s motivational core by putting evidence-based social science to work.
What inspired you to enter the sustainability and climate action space?
As a person who’s done environmental work all of my life, I’ve discovered an enormous passion for sustainability. It’s fun trying to find solutions to, for example, decarbonizing an electricity grid, installing solar panels, developing climate technologies, and measuring impact.
What’s your approach to balancing climate doom and being solutions-oriented?
I tend to approach it based on my emotional feelings. I find the term “climate doom” negative and uninspiring. If we see our climate crisis as a future apocalypse, we lose appreciation of the beauty of our planet, the amazing people on it, and the science. Climate doom doesn’t really invoke the wonders of environmentalism and sustainability.
Being solutions-oriented is based on the behavioral and neuroscience aspects of what gets people to take action. After interviewing social scientists like Josh Carlson on my podcast, I learned that showing people scary or doom images does not activate the type of response that gets people to take action. Instead, people have a shut-down response. Joshua’s research shows that giving people an environmental imagination exercise, a 20-minute exercise that asks people to write their vision for a sustainable and climate-friendly future, makes them more engaged and motivated.
It’s important to frame solutions instead of problems. It doesn’t mean we have to ignore the problems—it just has to be told in a story that focuses on a problem we can actually solve.
It’s also effective to talk about these values in groups. If we have a group of values that we all identify with, it allows us to bond over shared value systems and norms, which urges us to take action.
How do we quantify our impact? (ie. What’s the difference between critical and vanity metrics?)
In my book, How to Save the World, I use a metric called a God metric. It's about isolating your key metric in real world numbers, and being very careful to differentiate between "real world" metrics (like kg, lives, or trees) and "business" metrics (like sales, clicks or subscribers).
Some sustainable solutions are sometimes disconnected from measurable outcomes that prevent us from quantifying the impact, leading us to vanity metrics. Shifting towards critical and measurable metrics allows us to identify the change we’re making.
Also, flesh out a sustainable solution like a tree. Let’s use electrification as an example. Carbon emissions are the God metric. Electrification is the root solution, but if you branch out, you discover that we need to figure out how to get households to shift towards electrification. The number of households is an example of a non-God metric that is still quantifiable and takes us one step closer to our root solution. You sometimes need to make non-God metrics to get to your goal. See if your goal and metrics lead to your God metric and if there is a direct path.
Why are climate conversations important? What are some helpful techniques?
All change happens through human conversation. Regardless of our jobs, we have the power to influence. It’s important to learn how to communicate creatively and effectively. This might involve learning how to translate technical topics in Layman's terms or using design to drive engagement. Overall, your job is to get the message out and engage with different types of audiences.
When I’m speaking with my circles, I tend to be gentle because I don’t like to push ideas on people. I try to break down concepts step-by-step or try to build connections. Come up with a story that makes someone curious. Even if it may take time, people have a lead-up before consciously deciding to take action. Encouraging people to change means putting them in a stepping stone rather than demanding immediate change.
Support Katie’s work by reading her book, listening to her podcast, and checking out her free resources on her website!
Get our free bite-sized climate action plans before you go!