Storytelling and Climate Solutions

Storytelling to Accelerate Climate Solutions is a new book by editors Emily Coren and Hua (Helen) Wang. Each of the 20 chapters addresses a specific type of storytelling. You'll find chapters about entertainment education, locally-driven narratives, youth engagement, Hollywood, climate fiction, music, news reporting, geospatial tools, interactive storytelling, mental health, and telling stories through food. There is also a chapter about using visuals as a catalyst for climate science communication. It addresses scientific illustration, children's books, and learning in formal and informal settings. I had the opportunity to work on this chapter with four extraordinary science communicators – Kalliopi Monoyios, Kirsten Carlson, Taina Litwak, and Fiona Martin.

Scientific illustration has been an interest of mine for over two decades and was a big part of my previous endeavor, which was an educational resource about art, science, and interpretation — specifically botany education and botanical art. I expressed my interest in participating in the book chapter, and this led to our collaboration. The task before us was to address what visual science communication looks like and what it accomplishes in formal and informal situations. You can read our chapter in Storytelling to Accelerate Climate Solutions (Springer Nature, 2024).

Editors Coren and Wang collaborated with 44 authors affiliated with colleges, universities, news organizations, nonprofits, production companies, medical centers, the entertainment industry, small businesses, and independent practices. With this book, they've created a climate communication guide that practitioners can use across sectors.