Weather It Together: Communicating Climate Adaptation

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to apply the Esri story-map tool to your own community planning initiatives
• How to develop a comprehensive communication strategy for engaging community leaders and residents in resiliency planning
• Best practices for communication and collaboration on climate adaptation

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Communicating climate-change impacts requires multiple platforms of public engagement. But as the message moves beyond how climate has altered community functions to how communities adapt, it is possible to examine the success of one community — Annapolis, Maryland — as a model for effective collaboration in communication. The city's "Weather It Together" initiative benefits from a strong and ongoing partnership with three national organizations deeply committed to advising and guiding community decision-makers, city agencies, stakeholders, and residents toward solutions for climate impacts of flooding, fire, and heat. The National League of Cities (NLC), Urban Land Institute (ULI), and Michael Baker International (MBI) have all connected "Weather It Together" to the national climate adaptation dialogue. MBI's Planning Innovation Lab collaborated with Annapolis on an Esri story map, incorporating geospatial data, social media, and crowdsourcing to enhance hazard-mitigation planning for their historic seaport. NLC's Sustainable Cities Institute and ULI’s Urban Resilience program facilitated high-level information exchanges among city leaders, real estate developers, designers, planners, and community change makers. Learn how these organizations are helping community leaders share the importance of adapting to a changing climate through story maps, webinars, leadership summits, technical advisory panels, or planning charrettes.