Speaking to the heart of the matter

Abstract

This chapter argues that the two major trends – the increasing frequency of environmental crises and the pervasiveness of technology-based communication – open up a gap, a need, and an opportunity for an environmental communication that is not just a “crisis discipline” but that is oriented toward human welfare and connection. It describes the emergent trend toward such a “humanistic” environmental communication. The chapter establishes how environmental crises (especially via climate change) are manifesting in our collective experience. It then defines and sketches the outlines of such a humanistic environmental communication and how it may serve a society increasingly in dire environmental straits. It offers seven specific ways in which the environmental communication of the present and future can provide support, assist with social mobilization, and ensure respect and dignity in times of crises (offering compassion, truth-telling, supporting grief and mourning, visioning, fostering authentic hope, framing deep change, and mirroring human transformation). Finally, the chapter appeals to both environmental communication researchers and practitioners to issue not just warnings and clarion calls to action but to partake in the restoration of our relationships among humans and between humans and the more-than-human world.