Climate Change Communication Strategies for Urban Planners in Puget Sound, WA

Abstract

Effective climate change communication is crucial to ensure communities understand how climate change will impact their communities, can participate in decision-making regarding climate change, and have their local knowledge incorporated into the planning process. Though research on effective climate change communication methods has made significant progress over the past few decades, there still needs to be substantial efforts to relay practical and direct advice to practitioners, such as urban planners. To determine what research on climate change communications would most apply to community engagement in urban planning in Puget Sound, this thesis asks the following questions: What are the best practices for communicating climate science to non-experts? Which methods are most applicable to community engagement efforts by planners in Puget Sound, WA? The effective methods of communication identified from the literature review in this thesis were incorporated into a toolkit to guide urban planners in Puget Sound as they create climate communication materials for community engagement efforts. A focus group was conducted to discuss the usefulness of this toolkit and learn more about how planners in Puget Sound currently discuss climate change with their communities. Utilizing the strategies outlined in this thesis allow for more meaningful communication on climate change between planners and their communities, and can ultimately lead to more resilient cities if accompanied by incorporating meaningful opportunities for the community to participate in decision-making.