Connection between green space and climate fatigue: How does this impact local climate action?

The extent of climate issue fatigue is a poorly understood phenomenon potentially leading to climate action inertia. Conversely, connection to greenspaces and pro-environmental behaviours are well understood and studied, however the relationship between these two topics is under researched. Therefore, there is a need to determine if climate issue fatigue, potentially resulting from overexposure to climate change communications, is a counterintuitive inhibitor of participation in local climate actions. This study sought out to understand if the community members in the Frankston City Local Government Area are engaging with climate change communications, whether or not they are climate fatigued, and the potential connection between local green spaces and the level of participation in climate action. This study also considers whether a disconnect exists between belief in the effectiveness of climate actions, a person's willingness to participate and their actual participation. It also considers barriers and potential opportunities for encouraging climate action behaviours. The methods involved a survey with multiple data collection methods including the posting of QR codes, face-to-face contact, mail back, and recruitment through social media. The study conducted statistical analysis of correlation and patterns of response with R. Results showed that participants were moderately fatigued when they engaged in climate change communications on a regional level. Participants were generally participating in climate actions that were rated lower on effectiveness but rated higher on their willingness to participate. A weak connection was found between visitation of green space and climate fatigue. However, a moderate correlation was found between engagement in international climate change communications and frequency of green space visitation. In this survey, participants green space behaviours were not measured more than just level of visitation and therefore, patterns and motivations for green space visitation would be a valuable exploration. This study also highlights a need to better understand these relationships between the importance and connection to local green space in offsetting or countering climate action inertia.