Writer: 'climate contagion, networks of belief and influence'

Excerpt from one in a series of six articles for the Network Canvas blog:

At its core, the climate crisis is a systemic issue that requires systemic thinking to meaningfully address - but systems are made of people. By understanding the structure of our social relationships, we can gain insight into how climate action can be supported, resisted, and ignored in day-to-day contexts in a way that girders the structural overview.

Network Canvas is designed with these hard-to-quantify human factors in mind. The software's visual interface and interview-based methodology respects participant agency and helps surface stories and patterns that would otherwise remain hidden in conventional survey formats.

As researchers and practitioners search for new ways to support climate policymaking and community resilience, network data provides a crucial lens to measure both individual attitudes and understand the social dynamics that drive change in the real world.

In a political context where misinformation spreads quickly and public trust is fragile, knowing who people listen to - and why - may end up being one of our most powerful tools, in our efforts to shine a light through the political fog and create a liveable future for everyone.