Progress with climate change policy grows through connection. Unit 3 helps volunteers build from a knowledge-based approach to advocacy into practicing relationship-centered advocacy that opens minds, embodies hope, and leads to durable climate solutions. Drawing from High Conflict (Amanda Ripley), Motivational Interviewing, and CCL's own storytelling tradition, this part of the BRIDGE program blends evidence-based communication science with CCL's signature culture of respect and partnership.
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Learn and apply key skills from Motivational Interviewing (MI), a research-based approach to listening and guiding conversations that strengthens motivation and commitment to change. Practice OARS—open questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries—to evoke people's own reasons for climate action.
Recognize the difference between “High Conflict” and “Good Conflict,” understand the emotional and social forces that fuel polarization, and practice strategies—like curiosity, looping, and resisting the binary—that move conversations from division to dialogue.
Craft and confidently share personal, values-based stories that make climate solutions feel real, human, and worth acting on. Learn the four kinds of climate stories CCL volunteers rely on most and how to make the “climate pivot” that connects your story to a specific ask.