Abstract

Climate change communication studies how individuals and groups develop and share knowledge about climate and the ways they can be moved to act. To make the use of this knowledge viable in communication solutions capable of impacting audiences, the applications of this knowledge in the real world rest on the following three dimensions: ability to associate thoughts, abductive reasoning, and creative collaboration. Although there are conditions for effective communication, the key connections between scattered pieces, revealed by research, are like a puzzle waiting for a piece that fits together to manage the existing knowledge workflow and identify its priorities. Here, we reflect on the contribution of design to the realization of the missing connection based on the nature of design cognition. In design practice, the cognitive resources used to produce meaning in the creation of visual communication solutions are the same as those used in visual exploration to support the definition of a problem. Design processes are intensive in information and knowledge involved in the definition, configuration, and construction of solutions. Starting from scientific knowledge about the climate, for its sharing with different audiences, seeking to produce an impact on the capacity to change behavior, design can configure the image, in its different forms, either as a composition of a message or as a frame of knowledge on climate change usable to trigger action. Eliminating the risk of simplifying knowledge is the biggest challenge in the practice context. The opportunity to apply knowledge about climate change communication is an opportunity to achieve impacts that cannot be lost.