Bridging the Knowledge-Action Gap: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for Climate Change Communication Research
12 Mar 2026 (Thu)
On 5 March 2026, Professor Shirley Ho, Associate Vice President (Humanities, Social Sciences & Research Communication) in the President's Office at Nanyang Technological University, delivered a seminar entitled, “Bridging the Knowledge-Action Gap: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for Climate Change Communication Research”
In the seminar, Professor Ho highlighted the global tipping point at which the climate crisis permeates every facet of life, spanning fragile ecosystems to interconnected economies. In addressing the persistent "knowledge-action gap", whereby awareness alone often fails to translate into behavioral change or policy support, Professor Ho explored how the interplay among audiences, message content, and communication channels can help close this gap. Drawing on empirical insights into the factors shaping mitigation and adaptation behaviors, as well as public support for climate policy, Professor Ho demonstrated that effective climate communication must prioritize audience segmentation, local socio-cultural contexts, and the affective dimensions of climate perceptions. Her further examination of how emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, can enable immersive, emotionally resonant, and impactful climate communication advocates for a multidisciplinary approach that integrates behavioral science, communication theory, and emerging technologies to foster climate action more effectively.
Faculty members and doctoral students from the Department of Media and Communication attended the seminar, engaging in intellectually stimulating discussions with Professor Ho regarding related research topics, which substantially enriched scholarly dialogue in the field of communication research.
Professor Shirley Ho is President's Chair Professor of Communication Studies in the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at NTU. She is an elected fellow of the International Communication Association, a recognition of her distinguished scholarly contributions to the broad field of communication. Her primary research area focuses on cross-cultural public opinion dynamics related to science and technology, with potential health or environmental impacts.
