A family of hedgehogs are the stars of a new children’s book that seeks to connect new audiences with the idea of climate change adaptation.
Published by the Croatian Meteorological Society, the illustrated storybook is part of a wider trend to find new ways to connect different communities in Europe with the challenge of living with a rapidly warming planet.
In the storybook, the two baby hedgehogs from the Ježić family are taken to see an eco-home on a school trip, and return inspired. Mummy and Daddy Ježić already have plans to build a bigger home for their growing family, and they are badgered by the baby hedgehogs to go fully green on their new build.
The result is a cosy new hedgehog smart home with solar panels, heavily insulated walls, a green roof, water and waste recycling.
The concept is cute, and the message serious. President of the society, Vena Duričić, tells Euronews how they tested the text with real children, who chose both the type of animals and the style of illustration for the book.
Animals communicating complex climate information
Elsewhere, a sun-shy cat called Tom is the key character in a series of cartoons from the Association of Slovenian Dermatovenerologists. With skin cancer rates soaring in Slovenia, Dr Ana Benedičič is promoting a series of simple tips to protect the local population from UV ray skin damage in the decades to come.
Little Tom Cat, as he’s known, learns that if his shadow is shorter than he is, it’s time to seek shade, and finds himself a neck-covering Legionnaire-style hat when he goes hiking in the mountains. He’s even wary of harmful rays being reflected off rocks and lakes.
At the European Meteorological Society’s (EMS) annual meeting, Bulgarian meteorologist Stanislava Tsalova drew roars of laughter when she showed scientists a video clip of her weekend weather features, in which she cuddles puppies, gets headbutted by goats and throws fruit to brown bears.
It’s a fearless display of TV presenter courage that allows her to engage the Saturday morning audience on sometimes complex climate and weather topics by talking about their pets and loveable animals.
If there’s a heatwave, then she will first talk about how a dog’s paws can be damaged by the hot tarmac, before moving on to discuss heat stress for humans.
Taking cues from lifestyle magazines
Just across the border in Italy, the regional environmental protection agency echoes the norms of lifestyle and travel magazines to talk about climate change.
The award-winning ‘Signali Dal Clima’ publication is heavy on photos of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, taking layout cues from coffee-table favourites to engage the local population on everything from average temperature rise to the effects of climate change on woodland fauna like deer.
Federica Flapp, one of the principal editors, explains how the project has blossomed from a simple brainstorming session around science communication into a full-blown magazine.
Contributors are local specialists, and the focus is on how global warming is impacting the people of this Italian region, stretching from the Dolomites to the Adriatic Sea. Articles range from seasonal and sustainable food recipes to in-depth explanations of climate change anxiety, all with the colourful layout and the thick pages of high-end magazines.
Overall, a key message from the communications professionals at the conference is the need to broaden messaging around climate change, to focus more on adaptation, and create inclusive content that is relevant to different populations of people and their pets, around Europe.
Euronews journalist Jeremy Wilks is at the European Meteorological Society annual meeting to receive the EMS Communicating Weather & Climate Award 2025.