Climate stories are a form of structured communication designed to share information, experiences, and targeted messages about climate change/adaptation. Stories should ideally be compelling and entertaining and may combine text with supporting media or scientific data. The target audience can be the general public or specific group(s) .The story can be used to convey all kinds of publicly important messges around climate change. Defining the audience and the core message are essential components in the process so that the story appeals to the audience and the core message can be communicated clearly.
The benefit of using the tool comes not only regarding the final outcome, but also as a way to fill the gap between scientific actors and societal actors and decision makers.
Possible benefits are:
– Learn about climate change and its impacts.
– Show how heat and climate change affects citizens’ lives (vulnerable people).
– Generate a sense of urgency about climate resilience.
– Identify and understand possible actions that are being taken/or can be taken to minimize the negative effects of climate change
Each City Hub is developing one or several climate stories. The following topics are currently under development:
Logroño, Milano, Athens: Heat impacts.
Relevant tools include Thermal Assessment Tool (Tecnalia) and Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards Index tool (UCC)
Lillestrøm, Cork:
Flooding Relevant tools include Community flood resilience support tool (Deltares) and the Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards Index tool (UCC)
It can be relevant for any of the phases of the Triple-A toolkit:
Analysis phase:
– Raise awareness for risk of potential damages among decision makers, to support creating policy for implementing flood protection measures.
Ambition phase: – Raise awareness among first responders (emergency services) and find ways to be better prepared for the coming challenges
Action phase: . E.g. Create a story about mitigating heat effects: Public awareness and promote increased use of these adaptive measures to mitigate effects.
Felix van Veldhoven, Climate Adaptation Services (CAS)
contact: felix@climateadaptationservices.com
James Strout, NGI
contact: james.michael.strout@ngi.no
See also the publicly available REACHOUT Deliverable 1.3, ‘Climate stories: initial stories’
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2023 © Copyright REACHOUT
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036599.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036599.
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The climate story is highly versatile and can integrate the results of any climate tool. Climate tools that produce easy-to-understand visuals are easiest to integrate into a climate narrative. Map-based tool outputs are especially impactful.
The creative process of developing a climate story helps identify needs for new outputs or products from the tools, for example developing easy to understand infographics expressing some of the more complicated scientific content of the tools.
Short summary: A story about Jan and Maria during extreme precipitation.
Theme: Flooding
End user: Citizens
Link to the story: under construction