Stakeholder Participation for

Climate Adaptation

The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts

Northeast Climate Science Center Colloquium

April 18, 2012

David S. Liebl

Wisconsin Initiativeon Climate Change Impacts (WICCI)

Organization:UW-Nelson Institute andWI –DNR

Funding bootstrapped from existing programs

Participants contributing in-kind effort

Objectives:Assess and anticipate climate change impacts on specific Wisconsin natural resources, ecosystems and regions

WICCI Goal - Build Stakeholder Capacity

- See the impacts of climate- Understand the science - Appreciate the time scale- Discover adaptation strategies- Implement and manage adaptation

Seeing and adapting to change requires

time and attention

WICCI Chronology

2007 – WI-DNR and UW-Nelson Institute collaborate to organize WICCI

WICCI climate change briefing to Wisconsin LegislatureFeedback: “What does this mean for Wisconsin? “

“What am I supposed to tell my constituents?”

Chris Kucharik conducts analysis of Wisconsin Cooperative Weather Stations data

WICCI Science Council organized

WICCI Stakeholder Interaction

2008 – WICCI working groups organized

WICCI Climate Working Group begins development of GCM downscaling methodology

2011 – Release of Wisconsin’s Changing Climate

2009 – WICCI Advisory Committee convened

First all-Working Group workshop

WICCI Outreach Roundtable organized

State-wide broadcast of Bracing for Impacts lecture series

Climate Change Stakeholders?

WICCI Message

Our climate has, and will continue to change

Are we prepared to adapt?

It’s about people

WICCI Stakeholders

Decision Makers: - Scientists: UW-System, State and federal agencies- Local, state and tribal government- Natural resource and infrastructure managers

People affecting other people’s lives

Identify critical or emerging scientific questions related to WICCI’s mission

Organize and coordinate Working Groups

Provide leadership on climate change impact issues in Wisconsin

WICCI Science Council

Members from an array of disciplines and expertise within the UW System, WDNR ,other state and federal agencies, universities and institutions.

WICCI Advisory Committee1000 Friends of WisconsinAlliant EnergyAmerican Birkebeiner Ski FoundationApostle Islands National LakeshoreCitizen-Based Monitoring Network of WisconsinClean WisconsinCool ChoicesDepartment of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer ProtectionGreat Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife CommissionGrow North Regional Economic Development CorporationLeague of Wisconsin MunicipalitiesMadison & Dane County Public Health Dept.Natural Areas Preservation CouncilNew North, Inc.Professional Dairy Producers of WisconsinSC JohnsonSecond Look HolsteinsWe EnergiesWisconsin Association for Floodplain Stormwater & Coastal ManagementWisconsin Basin Education InitiativeWisconsin Bioenergy InitiativeWisconsin Conservation CongressWisconsin Council on ForestryWisconsin Dept. of TransportationWisconsin Environmental InitiativeWisconsin Paper CouncilWisconsin Public Service CommissionWisconsin Senate Committee on Environment & Natural ResourcesWisconsin Towns AssociationWisconsin Wetlands AssociationWisconsin Wildlife Federation

Representing stakeholder organizations

WICCI Working Groups

Water Resources

SoilConservation

Agriculture

Adaptation

Plants & NaturalCommunities

Central SandsHydrology

Forestry

CoastalCommunities

Green Bay

Wildlife

Stormwater

ColdwaterFish

Milwaukee

HumanHealth

WisconsinClimate

Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities pertinent to working group topic or geographic region

Summarize existing information on climate change impacts

Identify data and research needed to assess future impacts

Recommend adaptation strategies

Working Groups (i.e. learning communities)

Working Group Objectives:

Working Groups are a statewide mix of researchers, managers, and practitioners with expertise in the topic area or geographic region being assessed. Members come from WDNR, other state and federal agencies, UW system, non-profit organizations, and private sector.

WICCI Working Group CollaboratorsFederal U.S. Department of AgricultureU.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation ServiceU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceU.S. Forest ServiceU.S. Geological Survey

State State of Wisconsin Commissioner of InsuranceWisconsin Coastal Management ProgramWisconsin Conservation CongressWisconsin Council on Forestry Wisconsin Department of TransportationWisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer ProtectionWisconsin Department of Health and Family ServicesWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesWisconsin Emergency ManagementWisconsin Geological and Natural History SurveyWisconsin Public Service CommissionWisconsin State Climatology OfficeWisconsin State Legislature

Tribal GroupsGreat Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Local/MunicipalCity of Fitchburg EngineeringCity of Madison Storm Water UtilityCity of Racine Water & Wastewater UtilityColumbia County Land & Water ConservationDane County Land Conservation DivisionGreater Milwaukee CommitteeLeague of Wisconsin Municipalities Madison & Dane County Public Health DepartmentMadison Metropolitan Sewerage DistrictMilwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage DistrictSoutheast Wisconsin Regional Planning CommissionWisconsin Towns Association

UniversitiesLakehead UniversityUW ExtensionUW Sea GrantUW-Engineering Professional DevelopmentUW-Green BayUW-La CrosseUW-MadisonUW-MilwaukeeUW-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER InstituteUW-Stevens Point

NGO's1000 Friends of Wisconsin American Birkebeiner Ski FoundationClean WisconsinEducation Communications Board Fox-Wolf Rivers Environmental History ProjectGrow North Regional Economic Development Corporation, Inc.Natural Areas Preservation Council Nature NetNew North, Inc. Professional Dairy Producers of WisconsinSecond Look HolsteinsThe Association of State Floodplain ManagersThe Nature ConservancyTrout UnlimitedWisconsin Citizen-Based Monitoring NetworkWisconsin Environmental InitiativeWisconsin River AllianceWisconsin Paper CouncilWisconsin Wetlands AssociationWisconsin Wildlife Federation

Private SectorAECOMAlliant Energy HNTB CorporationMontgomery Associates-Resource SolutionsMSA Professional Services, Inc.S.C. JohnsonShort Elliott Hendrickson, Inc.We Energies

Establishing Stakeholder RelationshipsWICCI Stormwater Working Group - Ken Potter, David Liebl

2006 - Connecting Hydrologic Research With Water Resource Practice

2008-2009 NOAA-SARP Developing Tools and Long-Term Strategies to Allow Water Resources Managers to Respond Effectively to Climatic Variability

Workshop 1: Orientation to Climate Change; Identifying Implications of ClimaticVariability for Water Resource Management, July 10, 2008

Workshop 2: Responding Effectively to Climatic Variability: Understanding Impacts and Response, January 15, 2009

Workshop 3: Multi-sensor Measurement of Precipitation, August 11, 2009

2009-2010 WICCI Stormwater Working GroupStormwater Management in a Changing Climate: Managing High Flow and High Water Levels in Wisconsin

Process: • Engage stakeholder groups in meaningful work• Continue valuable stakeholder relationships• Include new stakeholders over time

Fosteringcollaboration

Outcomes of collaboration

www.wicci.wisc.edu

Changes: Climate Trends in Wisconsin Understanding Adaptation

Impacts: Water Resources Natural Habitat and Biodiversity Agriculture and the Soil Resource Coastal Resources People and their Environment

Actions: Implementing Adaptation Moving Forward

WICCI Outreach RoundtableAcademicUW-Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

UW-Center for Biology Education

UW-Engineering Professional Development

UW-Environmental Resources Center

UW-Journalism & Mass Communication

UW-Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

UW-Soil Sciences

UW-Space Science & Engineering Center

UW-Wildlife Ecology

ExtensionAshland and Bayfield County UW-Extension

Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center

St. Croix River Basin UW-Extension

Shawano County UW-Extension

UW-Extension STEM

WI Educational Communications Board

Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey

Wisconsin Sea Grant

AgencyNorthern Institute of Applied Climate Science

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

NGOAldo Leopold Foundation

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Clean Wisconsin

Wisconsin Maritime Museum

Representing education providers

International Science Wisconsin ScienceWICCI Working Groups

Science Council

WICCI Outreach and Communications

WICCIAdvisory

Committee

WICCIWebsite

WICCIPublications

WICCIWorking Groups

WICCIBriefings

NewWorking Groups

WICCIPartners

DNRAldo LeopoldNature Center

NOAA,OSU

Lake Superior

Bi-NationalProgram

CleanWisconsin

UWMSchool of

Freshwater Science

USGS

ManitowocMaritimeMuseum

UW-Extension

NorthernGreat Lakes

Visitor Center

EducationalCommunications

Board

WI GeologicalNatural History

Survey

NCSARE

Institute forTribal Environmental

Professionals

Great LakesRegional

Water Program

Co-Op ExtensionClimate Literacy

Team

Nelson Institute

UW-Madison

Center for Biology

Education

School ofPublic health

Sea GrantCivil &Environmental

Engineering

StateClimatologist

CALSCenter forClimate Research,

CISMSS

Impact:WisconsinRegional

WICCIOutreach

Roundtable

WICCI Information Flow

Climate Change Outreach Challenges

“Climate change? What climate change?”The historical record can be convincing…But climate projections may not persuade

“How hot? When?”Long projected dates vs. short planning horizons

“Between 4” and 9” of rainfall?”Model uncertainty + climate variability vs. municipal budgets

“OK, so what do we do now?”More adaptation strategies are needed

WICCI Stakeholder Outreach Strategies

Integration of climate into ongoing outreach programs

Develop standardized climate outreach materials

Climate literacy for UW-Extension, DNR staff and other partners

Feedback to WICCI on information and research needs

Communicating with stakeholders

Not everyone learns by reading

climatewisconsin.org “Gikinoo’wizhiwe Onji Waaban (Guiding for Tomorrow) Culture and Climate Change Initiative

http://fyi.uwex.edu/nglvc/cool-coasts/

Dolly LedinUW-Institute for Biology Education

Workshops

Attendees = 126 49% thought that information from WICCI that was used to describe projected climate impacts and adaption strategies was the most useful.

79% believed that the information presented was applicable to future decision making.

93% will share workshop information with colleagues that could not attend.

Becky Sapper

DNR Adaptation Workshops

142 DNR program mangers and supervisors

Internal team guided development and promoted workshop

Significant individual time commitment

(moderate)(avoidance)(minimal)(none)

Pre-survey:- knowledge - attitude - implementation - public interaction

Post-workshop feedback

Increased knowledge of climate’s impact on resource management

Understanding that adaptation is necessary to resource management

Communication of climate concepts to staff

Integration of climate into planning activities

Identified adaptation research needs

Legitimized “changing climate” within the organizational culture

Program Areas• 4-H/Youth Development• Agriculture and Natural Resources• Community, Natural Resources and Economic Development• Family Living Programs• Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

72 County offices9 UW campuses~600 faculty & staff

Clients• Local Government• Ag Producers• Small Business• Families

UW-Cooperative Extension Training

Post-pilot Feedback

Lead with concrete examples of climate's relevance to Extension outreach programs

Weave climate science into a narrative that leads to present understanding

Utilize more video material to illustrate key concepts

Avoid polarizing social references (e.g. politics, gender

Translation:“We’d like to understand this well enough to engage in dialog with community leaders (BTW, can we have your slides?)

Stakeholder EngagementLessons Learned

Climate change is a really big conceptWICCI chose adaptation as a focus

Everything/everybody is stakeholder WICCI’s message is aimed at decision makers

People learn from their peers Be strategic in your choice of stakeholder representatives

The discussion has been co-opted by competing interests Keep it science based (i.e. stay out of the controversy)

Stakeholder relationships are essentialSpend time and energy developing and maintaining them

Audiences can be huge Leverage your effectiveness by working with other providers

Continuously improve your approach Evaluate – modify – evaluate

Don’t expect the world (or people) to change overnight Provide realistic achievable options

Stakeholder EngagementLessons Learned

Climate changes over long periods of time (hopefully) Adapting to historic change is easy to understandAnticipating the future is challenging

We all learn in our own way Use multiple ways of getting your message across

Science literacy is not widespread Be clear, but avoid “dumbing down” the data

Stakeholder EngagementLessons Learned

These figures represent the same concept

Both are mysteriousto a nontechnical audience

Take-home message:Wetter - Not drier

Vavrus

Climate changes over long periods of time (hopefully) Adapting to historic change is easy to understandAnticipating the future is challenging

We all learn in our own way Use multiple ways of getting your message across

Science literacy is not widespread Be clear, but avoid “dumbing down” the data

We all have different sets of shared valuesConnect your message with all of your audience

Stakeholder EngagementLessons Learned

Temperature Impacts on Wildlife

Winners:• Short generation times• Wide distributions• Move easily across landscape• General habitat requirements • Not sensitive to human activity

Losers:• Long generation times • Narrow distributions• Poor dispersal ability • Special habitat requirements • Sensitive to human activity

Eastern Red-backed Salamander

American Marten Prairie Chicken

Karner Blue Butterfly

Temperature Impacts on Humans

Higher summer daytime temperature = increases in ozone

Source: Holloway et al. 2008

Chicago

More high dewpoint days and nights= heat stress

Mark Seeley, UMn

Stakeholder Participation for

Climate Adaptation

The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts

Northeast Climate Science Center Colloquium

April 18, 2012

David S. Liebl