This short series explores the concept of climate change scepticism, or climate change denial, what drives it, where we might encounter it and what we can do about it. Understanding why someone might deny climate change is more important than knowing how to persuade someone otherwise; the underlying causes need different responses. In order to avoid backlash, where someone becomes more cemented in their position, engaging with the roots of denial is most effective. If we want to change behaviour or support for climate mitigation, then other methods of engagement are necessary. The course will be given in English, but some Swedish resources and readings are available. Participants are welcome to discuss in English and in Swedish as they prefer. Lectures will be recorded and recordings will be shared on the teaching platform afterwards.

Target group:
This series is for those of you who are interested in or engaged in the social, political and economic aspects of climate change. Perhaps you are involved in meeting concerned citizens about sustainability transitions in the city, municipality and region. Perhaps you are interested in bringing more climate smart alternatives to your work place. This course will equip you with ways to engage with sceptical (and hesitant) people.

Lecture 1: What is and drives climate change denial
27 November 2023, 12.00-12.45 (Zoom)

Speaker: Laila Mendy,PhD student in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, in the Climate Change Leadership unit at Uppsala University.

Brief: What is and what drives climate change denial? The key learning outcome from the first session is that identifying and understanding the roots of denial is more important than understanding how to respond. Participants will be given supportive reading in Swedish and English about the drivers of climate change denial, conspiratorial thinking and disinformation. A short homework is optional to discuss on the online learning platform about previous encounters with climate change scepticism, how they responded and what happened afterwards.

Lecture 2: Why and how to engage
29 November 2023, 12.00-12.45 (Zoom)

Speaker: Laila Mendy,PhD student in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, in the Climate Change Leadership unit at Uppsala University.

Brief: Why engage? Are we trying to change someone’s mind, their behaviour or to prove a point? The attitude I am right, you are wrong does not work. This session starts from the point that climate change scepticism has delayed, and continues to stifle, action on climate change. We discuss a number of methods to counteract climate change scepticism and collectively practise in a group setting.

Participants will be given an optional small homework task of responding to online disinformation about climate change, sharing with other participants and discussing what they would hope to achieve by responding to these instances of climate scepticism.

Lecture 3: Strengths and limitations of multiple methods of counteracting denial
1 December 2023, 12.00-12.45 (Zoom)

Speaker: Laila Mendy , , PhD student in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, in the Climate Change Leadership unit at Uppsala University.

Brief: We summarise the different strengths and limitations of multiple methods of counteracting denial, online and offline, including inoculation, correction, pre-bunking, co-benefits and others. We use case-studies to explore better alternatives to meeting climate change sceptics.

Time commitment for the whole course: 3 hours
Active participation in the three online lunchtime lectures is recommended. The lectures will also be recorded and made available afterwards via the course page. There is an opportunity to get reading tips to immerse yourself in the topic (optional).

The Zoom link to all lectures can be found when you log in to the course page after you have registered for the course.