Project 3

For our final project in SYN 2, our group proposed a research-based climate communication study aimed at identifying which media format, written, visual, or auditory, most effectively inspires college students to take climate action. Building on the systems thinking and antiracist frameworks we explored earlier in the course, our proposal looked beyond simple “awareness” to investigate why certain content leads to behavior change while others fall flat. We designed a study that would expose participants to the same climate message, delivered as a podcast, article, and video, and measure their emotional engagement and likelihood to take action after each. The key idea was to keep content constant while allowing the unique strengths of each medium to shape the delivery.

Our goal wasn’t just to identify a “winning” format, but to uncover patterns: What resonates most with different types of students? What compositional elements (tone, music, layout) make a difference? In this way, our project treats climate media as a structural lever in the broader climate justice movement, something that can be redesigned for equity and efficacy. While we didn’t execute the study itself, developing this proposal pushed us to consider the deeper barriers to climate engagement and the role of communication design in overcoming them. It was a culmination of the course’s core themes, critical thinking, interdisciplinary research, and public action.