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)
Objectives:
Assess and anticipate climate change impacts on specific Wisconsin natural
resources, ecosystems and regions
Organization:
UW-Nelson Institute and
WI –DNR
Funding bootstrapped from
existing programs
Participants contributing in-kind
effort
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
2009 – WICCI Advisory Committee convened 
First all-Working Group workshop 
WICCI Outreach Roundtable organized 
State-wide broadcast of Bracing for Impacts lecture series 
2011 – Release of Wisconsin’s Changing Climate 
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
WICCI Science Council
Members from an array of disciplines and expertise within the UW
System, WDNR ,other state and federal agencies, universities and
institutions.
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 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
Human
Health
Milwaukee
Soil
Conservation
Coldwater
Fish
Stormwater
Agriculture
Wisconsin
Climate
Wildlife
Adaptation
Plants & Natural
Communities
Green Bay
Central Sands
Hydrology
Forestry
Coastal
Communities
Working Groups (i.e. learning communities)
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.
Working Group Objectives:
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
WICCI Working Group Collaborators
Federal
Universities
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
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
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
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
Private Sector
Wisconsin Paper Council
AECOM
Wisconsin Wetlands Association
Alliant Energy
Wisconsin Wildlife Federation
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
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
www.wicci.wisc.edu
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
Agency
Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
UW-Soil Sciences
UW-Space Science & Engineering Center
NGO
UW-Wildlife Ecology
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Aldo Leopold Nature Center
Extension
Clean Wisconsin
Ashland and Bayfield County UW-Extension
Wisconsin Maritime Museum
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
Representing education providers
International Science
Wisconsin Science
WICCI Working Groups
Science Council
WICCI Information Flow
WICCI Outreach and Communications
WICCI
Advisory
Committee
USGS
Clean
Wisconsin
Center for
Climate Research,
CISMSS
Nelson
Institute
Great Lakes
Regional
Water Program
WICCI
Publications
WICCI
Website
Northern
Great Lakes
Visitor Center
WICCI
Working Groups
Lake
UWM
Superior
School of
Bi-National Freshwater Science
Program
CALS
State
Climatologist
Educational
Communications
Board
WICCI
Outreach
Roundtable
WICCI
Briefings
New
Working Groups
NOAA,
OSU
Aldo Leopold
Nature Center
DNR
Civil &
Environmental
Engineering
Sea Grant
School of
Public health
WI Geological
Natural History
Survey
Institute for
Tribal Environmental
Professionals
NC
SARE
Impact:
Wisconsin
Regional
WICCI
Partners
UW-Madison UW-Extension
Center for
Biology
Education
Manitowoc
Maritime
Museum
Co-Op Extension
Climate Literacy
Team
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
Becky Sapper
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.
DNR Adaptation Workshops
142 DNR program mangers and
supervisors
Internal team guided development
and promoted workshop
Significant individual time
commitment
Pre-survey:
- knowledge
- attitude
- implementation
- public interaction
(moderate)
(avoidance)
(minimal)
(none)
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
UW-Cooperative Extension Training
Clients
• Local Government
• Ag Producers
• Small Business
• Families
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
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 Engagement
Lessons Learned
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
These figures represent
the same concept
Vavrus
Both are mysterious
to a nontechnical audience
Take-home message:
Wetter - Not drier
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
We all have different sets of shared values
Connect your message with all of your audience
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
American Marten
Eastern Red-backed Salamander
Prairie Chicken
Karner Blue Butterfly
Temperature Impacts on Humans
More high dewpoint
days and nights
= heat stress
Mark Seeley, UMn
Chicago
Higher summer
daytime temperature
= increases in ozone
Source: Holloway et al. 2008
Stakeholder Participation
for
Climate Adaptation
The Wisconsin Initiative on
Climate Change Impacts
Northeast Climate Science Center
Colloquium
April 18, 2012
David S. Liebl