What is this guide and who is it for?
When it comes to climate change and climate policies, what are people in Ireland thinking? Are there aspects on which most of us agree? Are there areas where there is less agreement? When climate concerns or actions do vary between groups of people, can we learn something about those people to help build more meaningful and effective climate engagement?
The Climate Change in the Irish Mind project (CCIM) was launched in 2021 to help answer these questions. CCIM is a nationally representative survey that was repeated after two years to track the climate views, attitudes and behaviours of the people of Ireland.
CCIM has identified four broad audience segments within the Irish population, the Four Irelands, based on their deep feelings about climate change. These are The Alarmed, The Concerned, The Cautious and The Doubtful. When planning engagement it can be extremely useful to think about which of these segments you might be talking to, as different communication strategies will work better or worse with different segments.
This guidance is based on the CCIM research, including the Four Irelands, and is designed for individuals and groups who want to engage the public on issues of climate change in a way that connects with the lives of people in Ireland, who they are and what they care about. As such, throughout the guidance where we say ‘people’ or ‘public’ we are referring to adults living in Ireland. Campaigners, civil society groups, policymakers and businesses can all use this guidance to become better climate communicators.
