Behind the paper: the role of museums in engaging the public on climate change

We talk to Nic Badullovich and colleagues, authors of the recent PLOS Climate publication “Communicating about “The End of Fossil Fuel” in a museum setting: a mixed-methods investigation of the Climate Museum”.

What led you to decide on this research question?

The research questions that guided our study were the result of our partnership with the Climate Museum. We were driven by our desire to ensure our academic interests were well aligned with the needs and knowledge interests of the Climate Museum. This allowed us to create a research design that maximized potential to contribute to academic and practical communication knowledge. Through frequent discussions we were able to craft a set of research questions for our study that led us to collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. 

How did you go about designing your study?

The project was strongly co-developed between the Center for Climate Change Communication (George Mason University) and the Climate Museum. This meant we were frequently discussing research design, research questions, data collection methods, and so on. This approach ensured we had a shared vision for the study and that it addressed pressing questions both organizations had with respect to the role of informal learning centers as climate change communication environments.   

Did you encounter any challenges in collecting or interpreting your data?

Data collection in the field can present a significant challenge, however, we overcame this by ensuring we implemented an effective participant recruitment strategy. The museum staff were highly trained in communicating the objectives of our study and as a result, we found many visitors were happy to volunteer their time. Retention rates for our follow-up survey was another challenge we faced. While it did not significantly affect our study, for future studies, we would recommend finding additional ways to send the follow-up survey to participants, for example, via text messaging. Our partnership with the Climate Museum was absolutely essential in our data collection strategy.

What struck you most about your results? What are the key messages and who do you hope might benefit from these new insights?

One key finding that stuck us was that while the vast majority of visitors were already Alarmed about climate change – meaning they recognise the challenge and support strong action – we still found measurable differences when comparing the baseline and follow-up surveys. In other words, visiting the museum was impactful for visitors whom we might consider ‘already engaged’ on climate change. This tells us that there are opportunities to engage the already Alarmed and Concerned segments of the population and this should not be ignored. Especially given research has shown us that while people may be Alarmed about climate change, they are not necessarily engaged in pro-climate actions. Our results suggest climate change museums could be a critical way to promote positive climate actions. 

We also believe these insights are valuable to informal learning environment researchers, as well as communication practitioners – the people on the ground, leading design and implementation of communication strategies in practice. We see the collaboration of academic and practitioner-focused institutions to be absolutely critical for ensuring communication is evidence-based and effective and that research is aligned with the needs of practitioners.

What further research would you like to see in this area?

We would love to see more research on the efficacy of climate-focused museums as communication and engagement centers. However, this requires more museums of this type. Our hope is that the Climate Museum may be an important nucleation point for the creation of other museums and informal learning environments focused on climate change. 

What made you choose PLOS Climate as a venue for your article?

We see PLOS Climate as an important emerging space for cutting-edge research in climate change communication and engagement. Moreover, the journal’s Open Access policies are an important consideration for us as we aim to make our research freely available to all.  

Ready to submit your work to PLOS Climate? Check out our step-by-step guide to the submission process!