Climate Change Communication in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of the North-West University in South Africa

Abstract

In the current context of the limited understanding of climate change, universities, among other sectors of society, must help to foster climate change communication. In addition to innovative teaching and research, they may be expected to promote initiatives and strategies towards a better understanding of the multidimensional nature and effects of climate change. By engaging with people who are part of the problem but also those future decision-makers who can offer solutions, universities are ideally situated to increase climate change awareness. Against this backdrop of the climate change communication discourse, this paper analyses a novel experience at the North-West University (NWU) in South Africa. Several activities were undertaken at the Potchefstroom Campus of the university in 2016 as part of the international initiative, “Global Climate Change Week” and under the heading “Ready to Act?” These activities (involving different scholarly fields e.g. arts, natural science, education and law) were organised for the first time and attracted a multidisciplinary group of students, academics and university staff who connected with one another and with the realities, challenges and opportunities of climate change. The experience presented in this paper conceptually highlights the role of universities in promoting communication for a more holistic understanding of climate change. In addition, it shows that universities may offer a meaningful platform for broader and multidisciplinary academic communities to discuss its effects, to emphasise the solutions and, ultimately, to motivate people towards taking action.