Sign language for climate change

Climate action: BSL - 2nd October 2023

British Sign Language (BSL) users have collaborated with scientists to create 200 new signs, aimed at inclusion in climate action. These signs will encourage education on climate change among deaf students.

The Scottish Sensory Society announced an official list of 200 signs to articulate scientific concepts related to climate change and ecology, including terms such as "carbon footprint" and "greenhouse gases". Dr Audrey Cameron, who pioneered the project, encapsulates the project's ethos stating, "We're trying to create the perfect signs that visualise scientific concepts."

Prior to these signs, BSL users grappled with having to spell out complex terms letter by letter, which often made communication cumbersome for deaf scientists attending international conferences. Dr Cameron, also a member of the deaf community, has endured firsthand the isolation wrought by linguistic limitations in these settings. Reflecting on her experiences, she laments, "I was involved in research for 11 years and went to numerous meetings but was never truly involved because I couldn't understand what people were saying… I wanted to talk with people about chemistry and I just wasn't able to."

Having contributed 7,000 signs to BSL since 2007, the project, which is a part of the Royal Society's science glossary fund, is set to introduce a further 200 signs related to sustainability, energy and the impact of climate change.

A Glaswegian science workshop, which delivers science lessons to hearing impaired students, has already incorporated these new signs. Melissa, 13, is thrilled with the clarity and ease of the new signs. Gone are the days of finger spelling words, now with a few succinct gestures, abstract concepts can be clearly conveyed. She demonstrated with her left hand, a loose fist, signifying "gas", while her right index finger traced a zigzag path for "sunray": "With the sign, I can see something is happening with the gas," she explained.

Jeremy Sanders, head of the Royal Society committee for diversity and inclusion has hopes that the new signs, "will inspire and empower the next generation of BSL-using students and allow practising scientists to share their vital work with the world."