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The Planetarium at 100: Moving the Field Into Its Next Century

Session: 7A: 1-Minute Summaries (21, in alphabetical order by last name)

7A-18 - Dark Skies Storytelling: Motivating Planetarium Audiences to Address Light Pollution

Friday, August 23, 2024
10:50 AM – 11:40 AM US PDT
Abstract: Our team is developing a planetarium program that will use storytelling to motivate audiences towards actions that address light pollution in their community. We are intentionally focused on families to leverage opportunities for intergenerational learning within and beyond the planetarium. Humans increasingly live in areas devoid of dark skies, reducing opportunities to share in astronomical observations and connect to our ancestors through a shared relationship with the night sky. Light pollution has detrimental effects on humans and wildlife, while also wasting energy and contributing to global climate change.

During our 1-minute talk, we raise a challenge that our team is grappling with. How do we successfully use stories to motivate audiences towards action? We hypothesize that stories will help audiences reflect on how light pollution impacts their families and communities if we design the narratives in ways that promote a place-based connection. Specifically, we are writing a narrative that connects a series of short stories all set in contexts and problems recognizable to local families. We hope that by sharing this challenge, and our proposed solution, audience members may share with us their successful strategies to motivate audiences towards action and problem solving.