• Resources for Small Communities

Educational and Communications Materials

This tab includes communications, training, and other educational materials, including webinars and workshop summaries, relevant to rural and small communities.

Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow by resource type, state, region, impact, or jurisdictional focus.

 

 

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Case Study: Community Engagement in Austin, Minnesota

2016

In the summer of 2016, the City of Austin, MN surveyed minority, immigrant and refugee people to determine their knowledge of climate change and how it impacted them personally. Surveys were completed over a two-week period at a local non-profit called the Welcome Center, which helps new residents and immigrants transition into the city, find economic opportunities, and become part of Austin's multicultural community. Following the survey, the City compiled the results and convened a focus group with Karen women, primarily from southern and southeastern Myanmar.

Related Organizations: City of Austin, Minnesota, Great Plains Institute, The Welcome Center

Resource Category: Education and Outreach

 

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Climate Communications and Behavior Change: A Guide for Practitioners

2010

Drawing on extensive global warming, behavior change, communications research and practitioner expertise, the 'Climate Communications and Behavior Change' guide distils information into tools and recommendations that climate leaders can easily apply.   It illustrates the challenges with existing communication efforts and provides tips on how to frame and deliver outreach efforts in a way that motivates changes in thinking and behavior.   The guide also offers detailed advice and tips on how to frame global warming communications and promote behavior change in ways that resonate with a range of audience segments.

Related Organizations: The Resource Innovation Group, University of Oregon, Climate Leadership Initiative

Authors or Affiliated Users: Cara Pike, Bob Doppelt, Meredith Herr

Resource Category: Education and Outreach

 

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Building Coast-Smart Communities

Building Coast-Smart Communities is a role play product developed by the state of Maryland and funded by NOAA. It was used by the state in a summit, attended by more than 170 mayors, county commissions, environmentalists, business leaders and Maryland state officials, to discuss the State's climate change adaptation options. The half day role play quickly introduces people to the challenges faced by coastal communities and the primary options for addressing them. As such, local government authorities, planning departments, chambers of commerce, civic groups and residents associations can conduct this role play in their communities.

Related Organizations: Maryland Department of Natural Resources: Chesapeake and Coastal Program, Consensus Building Institute (CBI)

Resource Category: Education and Outreach

 

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The Energy Democracy Scorecard and Flipbook

January 2020

According to the Energy Democracy Scorecard and Flipbook from the Emerald Cities Collaborative, “Energy Democracy” is defined as an ideal scenario where a frontline community “shifts completely away from an extractive economy, energy, and governance system to one that is regenerative, provides reparations, transforms the power structures, and creates new governance and ownership practices. ” The Energy Democracy Flipbook is designed to help frontline communities, such as low-income people of color, who are vulnerable to climate change to self-evaluate their communities’ energy economy condition.

Related Organizations: Emerald Cities Collaborative

Authors or Affiliated Users: Anthony Giancatarino, Donna House

Resource Category: Education and Outreach

 

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Adapt Alaska

2017

Adapt Alaska is a website which hosts information about climate impacts in Alaska, a set of steps for policymakers and planners to create monitoring, mitigation, and adaptation solutions, and various resources and case studies designed to guide the user in developing and funding their own adaptation projects. The website emerged from a collaborative research project—Promoting Coastal Resilience in Arctic Alaska— which included workshops and outreach efforts, during which coastal community resilience workshop participants identified issues they faced from rapidly changing environmental and climate conditions. This learning and planning tool provides both background information about the impacts of climate change on Alaska and resources to adapt to this change, while incorporating considerations of cultural values into strategies. 

Related Organizations: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of the Interior (DOI): Aleutian & Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC), Alaska Sea Grant, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) - RISA, Department of the Interior (DOI): Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC), Department of the Interior (DOI): North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC)

Resource Category: Adaptation Websites

 

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Tribal Leaders Summit on Climate Change: A Focus on Climate Adaptation Planning and Implementation

November 2015

In November 2015, the University of Arizona Native Nations Climate Adaptation Program and Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions convened tribal environmental managers and leaders at a Tribal Leaders Summit to share experiences and build capacity in climate adaptation planning. Participants shared adaptation planning successes and lessons learned, discussed opportunities to supplement climate science with traditional knowledge, and offered feedback on the challenges to implementation.

Related Organizations: The University of Arizona Native Nations Climate Adaptation Program, Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions (CCASS)

Resource Category: Education and Outreach

 

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From Newtok to Mertarvik: A Native Alaskan Tribal Village Relocation

Several tribal villages in Alaska are facing impending community-wide climate impacts of permafrost degradation, sea level rise, erosion, and flooding  which require immediate adaptation measures, including the potential of managed retreat. However, only one, the Village of Newtok, is in the process of actively relocating to a new site, Mertarvik, which was conveyed to Newtok through a federal land grant. The Newtok team  composed of federal, state, and local tribal representatives  is prioritizing the development of housing, roads, energy, and an evacuation center in the near-term. The project goal is to relocate everyone in Newtok to Mertarvik by 2023. The Newtok relocation has been funded by a patchwork of federal and state agencies for over 20 years. This case study can highlight one approach and ongoing lessons learned for state and local jurisdictions confronting larger-scale questions about managed retreat, and the process of transitioning entire communities to higher ground. 

Related Organizations: Village of Newtok, Alaska, State of Alaska

Resource Category: Solutions

 

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Annexing and Preparing Higher Ground Receiving Areas in Princeville, North Carolina Through Post-Disaster Recovery Processes

In 2017, the Town of Princeville, North Carolina engaged experts and communities in a long-term, comprehensive planning process to annex a 53-acre parcel of land located outside of the town’s 100-year floodplain to develop a safer, higher ground area where residents, structures, and infrastructure can be relocated. After experiencing flooding impacts from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Princeville was selected as one of six municipalities in North Carolina to receive technical and funding support from the state through the Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative. Princeville provides an example for other municipalities either in a pre-or post-disaster context for how to balance the preservation of original townships while dealing with flooding vulnerabilities, while increasing the resiliency of core community assets and services through adaptation actions. As done in Princeville, local governments may consider options for relocating vulnerable residences and community facilities and services, including by annexing new land where sufficient higher ground land within existing municipal boundaries is not available to reallocate critical land uses and maintain local communities, tax bases, and economies.

Related Organizations: Town of Princeville, North Carolina

Resource Category: Solutions

 

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Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas — State of Louisiana: Louisiana Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE)

July 15, 2020

Louisiana Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE) is a community-based planning and capital investment process that will help the state fund and implement several projects, including for managed retreat, to make its coasts more resilient. In 2016, Louisiana’s Office for Community Development–Disaster Recovery Unit received a nearly $40 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the National Disaster Resilience Competition and additional state and nongovernmental funds to implement LA SAFE. The grant will support the design and implementation of resilience projects to address impacts in six coastal parishes that were affected by Hurricane Isaac in 2012. The state partnered with the nonprofit Foundation for Louisiana to administer LA SAFE and facilitate an extensive, year-long community engagement process that will result in implementation of ten funded projects across the six parishes. By contemplating a regional, rather than a parish-specific, approach to addressing coastal risk, LA SAFE provides a model that other states and local governments may consider when making long-term adaptation and resilience investments, including for managed retreat. This case study is one of 17 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas: Lessons and Tools from 17 Case Studies.

Resource Category: Solutions

 

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Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas — Quinault Indian Nation, Washington: Taholah Village Relocation Master Plan

July 15, 2020

Quinault Indian Nation (QIN), a federally recognized tribe located in Washington state, is currently implementing a phased relocation plan as part of a managed retreat strategy in response to the impacts of sea-level rise, flooding, and concerns about the increased likelihood of tsunamis and storm surges attributed to climate change. In 2017, QIN adopted the Taholah Village Relocation Master Plan that outlines a vision and development plan for relocating a portion of QIN living in the Lower Village of Taholah to a higher ground location in the Upper Village Relocation Area. The Master Plan contains eleven chapters covering the history and the need to relocate, goals and principles of the plan, and different aspects of the Upper Village blueprint including appropriate community facilities, housing, infrastructure, culture, sustainability, and resilience. It also sets forth implementation steps for the project through phasing, necessary regulatory changes, and funding. QIN developed the Master Plan with significant community input. The community engagement processes and sustainable planning strategies can provide transferable lessons for other state and local jurisdictions considering similar questions of strategic planning for coastal retreat and relocation, even on a smaller scale. This case study is one of 17 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas: Lessons and Tools from 17 Case Studies.

Resource Category: Planning

 

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