Opinion leaders and complex sustainability issues: fostering response to climate change

Making meaningful links between the global and local scales is an enduring challenge for behavioural change studies focused on sustainability. There is consensus that this is a complex issue and relying on the provision of information alone is insufficient to encourage the adoption of new practices by individuals. The role and strategies of the bearers of such information were investigated in this thesis to understand not only what is communicated, but who communicates between scales and levels of authority, and how. A sample of community opinion leaders was identified through nominations by members of community organisations in the Sunshine Coast region, Australia. Data for analysis was generated from these nominations and from semi-structured interviews with fifteen community opinion leaders. Thematic analysis was applied to investigate characteristics of the community opinion leaders and the strategies for influence they use. Argument analysis frameworks were used to analyse community opinion leaders’ positions in relation to responding to climate change. Community opinion leaders try to influence change predominantly through existing social structures and power. Through their capacity to reach beyond the local to influence structures affecting the local they demonstrate the potential for enhanced engagement with sustainability issues that require structural, enduring, cross-scale societal transitions. Community opinion leaders’ evaluations of the seriousness of climate change risk for their areas of community influence also indicate the nature of information that is lacking in the public debate about responding to climate change. The findings of this analysis highlight the need to develop targeted information that would allow community opinion leaders to assess the risks from climate change and to determine responses that support their community commitments. This study has shown that community opinion leaders enact their commitments to change by facilitating the development of knowledge and skills within their organisations, and building networks for the exchange of knowledge and influence with other community organisations and government agencies across scales. Such skills and approaches to influence are transferable between issue domains and as such, contribute to a community capacity for change.Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2012