ENSn4629 Communication of environmental issues with the public

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Jan Krajhanzl, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Jan Činčera, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jan Činčera, Ph.D.
Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristína Markechová
Supplier department: Department of Environmental Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
each odd Thursday 12:00–15:40 U42
Prerequisites
! HEN629 Environmental issues &&! NOW ( HEN629 Environmental issues )
The course is designed for students, who are interested in environmental communication and public education, who can read in english, who like to create, analyse, debate, play and work intensively during the course to learn how to reach the widest possible public with environmental protection issues.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 2/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main goal of the course "Communication of environmental issues with the public" is to prepare students for practical situations: designing public education campaigns, using voluntary environmental management instruments or doing public relations in the area of environmental protection. Students will be taught how to choose goals for communication, why is good to know their target audience and how to address the public with the topic of environmental protection. The course is based on knowledge from various fields, such as environmental communication, conservation psychology, social psychology and social marketing.
Learning outcomes
Students:
1. Know a specifity of environmental communication.
2. Are oriented in a recent research and in a discussion in the field of environmental communication.
3. Can prepare public education campaign supporting environmental behavior change or branding of environmental NGOs.
4. Know, where to find more resources for study and work.
Syllabus
  • 1. How to communicate environmental issues to the public? Psychological difficulties of environmental communication. Preparation of the campaign. Choosing the objectives. Ethical considerations.
  • 2. How to identify a target group? Persona. Segmentation. Positioning. Research methods.
  • 3. How people think and make decisions in environmental protection? Elaboration Likelihood Model. Priming. The theory of social reasoning. Fear and defense mechanisms. Inoculation theory.
  • 4. How to deepen environmental attitudes? Intrinsic value. Problem Awareness. Subjective/social norm. Moral norm. Self-efficacy, locus of control. Environmental conflicts.
  • 5. How to strengthen the relationship between environmental organizations and the public? Image of ecologists in the Czech Republic.
  • 6. How to promote environmental behavior change? Strategy to support proenvironmental behavior. Applied behavioral analysis. Community-based Social Marketing. Nudge.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BONAR, Scott A. The Conservation Professional's Guide to Working with People. Island Press, 2007.
  • LEFEBRE, Craig R. Social Marketing and Social Change: Strategies and Tools For Improving Health, Well-Being, and the Environment. Jossey-Bass, 2013.
  • KRAJHANZL, Jan. Dobře utajené emoce a problémy životního prostředí. Brno: Lipka, 2012.
  • • KRAJHANZL, Jan, ZAHRADNÍKOVÁ, Šárka, RUT, Ondřej. Možnosti spolupráce s veřejností (nejen) při ochraně životního prostředí [online]. Zelený kruh, 2010. [cit. 2012-04-22]. Dostupný z .
  • • TYSON, Ben; Hurd, Mercedes. Social Marketing Environmental Issues. New York, Bloomington : iUniverse, 2009.
  • LEE, Nancy and Philip KOTLER. Social marketing : changing behaviors for good. 5 edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2016, xv, 567. ISBN 9781452292144. info
  • KLÖCKNER, Christian A. The psychology of pro-environmental communication : beyond standard information strategies. First published. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, x, 271. ISBN 9781137348197. info
  • COX, J. Robert. Environmental communication and the public sphere. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 2013, xvi, 429. ISBN 9781412992091. info
  • MCKENZIE-MOHR, Doug. Social marketing to protect the environment : what works. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012, xiv, 237. ISBN 9781412991292. info
  • JURIN, Richard R., Donald E. ROUSH and K. Jeffrey DANTER. Environmental communication : skills and principles for natural resource managers, scientists and engineers. 2nd ed. New York: Springer, 2010, xxiii, 310. ISBN 9789048139873. info
  • ROSE, Chris. How to win campaigns : communications for change. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Earthscan, 2010, ix, 381. ISBN 9781849711142. info
  • Communication skills for conservation professionals. Edited by Susan Kay Jacobson. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2009, xiii, 461. ISBN 9781597269438. info
Teaching methods
Teamwork, problem tasks solving, lectures and presentations, examples of good and bad practices, discussion, individual readings and homework, sharing of experiences.
Assessment methods
Active participation (only one absence is possible), homework (readings, projects), final exam.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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