Stakeholder Participation for

Climate Adaptation

The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts

Northeast Climate Science Center

Colloquium April 18, 2012

David S. Liebl

Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI)

Organization: UW-Nelson Institute and WI –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 Legislature Feedback: “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 Committee 1000 Friends of Wisconsin Alliant Energy American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Citizen-Based Monitoring Network of Wisconsin Clean Wisconsin Cool Choices Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission Grow North Regional Economic Development Corporation League of Wisconsin Municipalities Madison & Dane County Public Health Dept. Natural Areas Preservation Council New North, Inc. Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin SC Johnson Second Look Holsteins We Energies Wisconsin Association for Floodplain Stormwater & Coastal Management Wisconsin Basin Education Initiative Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative Wisconsin Conservation Congress Wisconsin Council on Forestry Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation Wisconsin Environmental Initiative Wisconsin Paper Council Wisconsin Public Service Commission Wisconsin Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Wisconsin Towns Association Wisconsin Wetlands Association Wisconsin Wildlife Federation

Representing stakeholder organizations

WICCI Working Groups

Water Resources

Soil

Conservation

Agriculture

Adaptation

Plants & Natural Communities

Central Sands Hydrology

Forestry

Coastal Communities

Green Bay

Wildlife

Stormwater

Coldwater Fish

Milwaukee

Human Health

Wisconsin Climate

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 Collaborators Federal U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Forest Service U.S. Geological Survey

State State of Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance Wisconsin Coastal Management Program Wisconsin Conservation Congress Wisconsin Council on Forestry Wisconsin Department of Transportation Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wisconsin Emergency Management Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Wisconsin Public Service Commission Wisconsin State Climatology Office Wisconsin State Legislature

Tribal Groups Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Local/Municipal City of Fitchburg Engineering City of Madison Storm Water Utility City of Racine Water & Wastewater Utility Columbia County Land & Water Conservation Dane County Land Conservation Division Greater Milwaukee Committee League of Wisconsin Municipalities Madison & Dane County Public Health Department Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission Wisconsin Towns Association

Universities Lakehead University UW Extension UW Sea Grant UW-Engineering Professional Development UW-Green Bay UW-La Crosse UW-Madison UW-Milwaukee UW-Milwaukee Great Lakes WATER Institute UW-Stevens Point

NGO's 1000 Friends of Wisconsin American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Clean Wisconsin Education Communications Board Fox-Wolf Rivers Environmental History Project Grow North Regional Economic Development Corporation, Inc. Natural Areas Preservation Council Nature Net New North, Inc. Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Second Look Holsteins The Association of State Floodplain Managers The Nature Conservancy Trout Unlimited Wisconsin Citizen-Based Monitoring Network Wisconsin Environmental Initiative Wisconsin River Alliance Wisconsin Paper Council Wisconsin Wetlands Association Wisconsin Wildlife Federation

Private Sector AECOM Alliant Energy HNTB Corporation Montgomery Associates-Resource Solutions MSA Professional Services, Inc. S.C. Johnson Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. We Energies

Establishing Stakeholder Relationships WICCI 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 Climatic Variability 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 Group Stormwater 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 Fostering

collaboration

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 Roundtable Academic UW-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

Extension Ashland 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

Agency Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

NGO Aldo Leopold Foundation Aldo Leopold Nature Center Clean Wisconsin Wisconsin Maritime Museum

Representing education providers

International Science Wisconsin Science WICCI Working Groups

Science Council

WICCI Outreach and Communications

WICCI Advisory

Committee

WICCI Website

WICCI Publications

WICCI Working Groups

WICCI Briefings

New Working Groups

WICCI Partners

DNR Aldo Leopold Nature Center

NOAA, OSU

Lake Superior

Bi-National Program

Clean Wisconsin

UWM School of

Freshwater Science

USGS

Manitowoc Maritime Museum

UW-Extension

Northern Great Lakes

Visitor Center

Educational Communications

Board

WI Geological Natural History

Survey

NC SARE

Institute for Tribal Environmental

Professionals

Great Lakes Regional

Water Program

Co-Op Extension Climate Literacy

Team

Nelson Institute

UW-Madison

Center for Biology

Education

School of Public health

Sea Grant Civil & Environmental

Engineering

State Climatologist

CALS Center for Climate Research,

CISMSS

Impact: Wisconsin Regional

WICCI Outreach

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 Ledin UW-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 offices 9 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 Engagement Lessons Learned

Climate change is a really big concept WICCI 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 essential Spend 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 Engagement Lessons Learned

Climate changes over long periods of time (hopefully) Adapting to historic change is easy to understand Anticipating 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 Engagement Lessons Learned

These figures represent the same concept

Both are mysterious to 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 understand Anticipating 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 values Connect your message with all of your audience

Stakeholder Engagement Lessons 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