Abstract
The stories students tell about climate change will have a profound effect upon their lives. Those stories reflect broader cultural values and environmental discourses. Therefore it is important that students think critically about the stories they learn and develop their own personal climate stories. Will students respond reactively or proactively to this issue? By seeing themselves as protagonists in the story of climate change, can students become more motivated to act upon this issue? Using the concept of ecological identity helps students to redefine their personal stories and possibly resolve a key modern paradox: the pursuit of personal security undermines planetary security. Ultimately, these ecological stories must come from the heart.
References
Author (ed) (2009) [College] CARES. Unpublished manuscript
Angaangaq (2008) Fire and ice, Part 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1HChQYs3Uw. See also http://www.icewisdom.org
American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007) AAAS Board statement on climate change approved by the AAAS Board of Directors, 9 December 2006, (Feb 7). aaas.org/news/press_room/climate_change/mtg_200702/aaas_climate_statement.pdf
Bragg EA (1987) Towards ecological self: deep ecology meets constructionist self-theory. J Environ Psychol 16:93–108 Cited by Clarke C (2008) “The Ecological Self,” http://www.greenspirit.org.uk/resources/ecological_self.html. See also http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/Eshana.htm
Capra F (1997) The web of life: a new scientific understanding of living systems. Anchor Books, New York
Catton W (1980) Overshoot: the ecological basis of revolutionary change. University of Illinois Press, Chicago
Dryzek J (2005) The politics of the earth: environmental discourses. Oxford University Press, New York
Esbjörn-Hargens S, Zimmerman M (2009) An overview of integral ecology. Integral Institute, Resource Paper No. 2, (March):1–14 http://integrallife.com/files/Integral_Ecology_3-2-2009.pdf
Foster JB (2009) The ecological revolution: making peace with the planet. Monthly Review Press, New York
Ganz M (2001) The power of story in social movements. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~mganz/Current%20Publications/MG%20POWER%20OF%20STORY.pdf
Goodstein E (2007) Fighting for love in the century of extinction. University of Vermont Press, Burlington
Gould SJ (1993) Eight little piggies. W.W. Norton, New York
Hawken P (2007) Blessed unrest: how the largest movement in the world came into being and why no one saw it coming. Viking, New York
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Climate change 2007: synthesis report, summary for policymakers. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf
Korten D (2006) The great turning: from empire to earth community. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco
Lysack M (2007) Family therapy, the ecological self, and global warming. Context 91:9–11
Lomborg B (2001) The skeptical environmentalist: measuring the real state of the world. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Macy J (1991) World as lover, world as self. Parallax Press, Berkeley
Meadows D et al (1972) Limits to growth. Signet, New York
Orr D (2004) Earth in mind: on education, environment, and the human prospect. Island Press, Washington, DC
Pelosi N, Reid H (2009) Pelosi and Reid: capitol power plant should switch to 100 percent natural gas (Feb 26). http://speaker.house.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1028
Schneider S, et al (2002) Misleading math about the earth. Sci Am (January):61–71
Seager J (2007) Special event: DPI/NGO Communications Workshop: “Communicating environmental concerns: messages and methods” (June 14). United Nations Webcast, New York. http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/specialevents/dpi070614.rm
Shiva V (2005) Earth democracy: justice, sustainability, and peace. Sound End Press, Boston
Simon J (1981) The ultimate resource. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Stern N (2007) Stern review on the economics of climate change. Executive summary. HM Treasury, London. http://www.hm-reasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm
Suzuki D (1997) The sacred balance: rediscovering our place in nature. Greystone Books, Vancouver
Thomashow M (1995) Ecological identity: becoming a reflective environmentalist. MIT Press, Cambridge
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank the spring 2009 students of GGR 29, Human Dimensions of Climate Change, for allowing their words to be included in this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Carlin, S. (2010). Getting to the Heart of Climate Change Through Stories. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Universities and Climate Change. Climate Change Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10751-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10751-1_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-10750-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-10751-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)