The experience of participating in a local climate vulnerability assessment changes efficacy and motivation to act
Location
PANEL: Practical Approaches to Measuring and Promoting Systems Thinking: From Medicine to Climate Change
Science Center A255
Document Type
Presentation
Start Date
4-26-2024 2:00 PM
End Date
4-26-2024 3:30 PM
Abstract
Can exposure to hyper-local predictions of climate change impacts motivate mitigation and adaptation behavior? This research explored reactions to a climate vulnerability assessment conducted in the City of Oberlin Ohio as a collaboration between Oberlin College faculty, students, city government, and community stakeholders as part of an ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) process. Community stakeholders were selected for their expertise or leadership in various community systems (e.g. water, energy, emergency services, culture, public health, etc), but had no particular expertise in climate change impacts. Participants were presented with hyper-local predictions on the impacts of climate change derived from a combination of government reports and online modeling tools such as Climate Explorer. The resulting co-authored City of Oberlin Climate Vulnerability Report has spurred planning and action across the community. Anecdotal evidence suggested that participants found the process concurrently sobering and empowering. We conducted 26 interviews to document the range of psychological impacts of participating in the process. In general, participation increased the sense of both threat and efficacy. Additionally, more than half of the participants reported having negative feelings – twice as often as they reported having positive feelings. Participants experienced discomfort in the face of the reality of climate change. However when we asked about the overall experience, participants overwhelmingly reported that it was positive; not a single participant described it as negative. This suggests that the vulnerability assessment planning process caused negative feelings and discomfort, but in a context that was ultimately experienced as empowering and constructive.
Keywords:
Community, Climate change, Hyper-local data
Recommended Citation
Sinnet, Peyton; Novajas Donoso, Martina; Kearney, Bryn; Bengston, Emily; and Chi, Tony, "The experience of participating in a local climate vulnerability assessment changes efficacy and motivation to act" (2024). Research Symposium. 24.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/researchsymp/2024/presentations/24
Major
Environmental Studies; Law and Society
Project Mentor(s)
John Petersen, Environmental Studies and Biology
Cindy Frantz, Psychology and Environmental Studies
2024
The experience of participating in a local climate vulnerability assessment changes efficacy and motivation to act
PANEL: Practical Approaches to Measuring and Promoting Systems Thinking: From Medicine to Climate Change
Science Center A255
Can exposure to hyper-local predictions of climate change impacts motivate mitigation and adaptation behavior? This research explored reactions to a climate vulnerability assessment conducted in the City of Oberlin Ohio as a collaboration between Oberlin College faculty, students, city government, and community stakeholders as part of an ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) process. Community stakeholders were selected for their expertise or leadership in various community systems (e.g. water, energy, emergency services, culture, public health, etc), but had no particular expertise in climate change impacts. Participants were presented with hyper-local predictions on the impacts of climate change derived from a combination of government reports and online modeling tools such as Climate Explorer. The resulting co-authored City of Oberlin Climate Vulnerability Report has spurred planning and action across the community. Anecdotal evidence suggested that participants found the process concurrently sobering and empowering. We conducted 26 interviews to document the range of psychological impacts of participating in the process. In general, participation increased the sense of both threat and efficacy. Additionally, more than half of the participants reported having negative feelings – twice as often as they reported having positive feelings. Participants experienced discomfort in the face of the reality of climate change. However when we asked about the overall experience, participants overwhelmingly reported that it was positive; not a single participant described it as negative. This suggests that the vulnerability assessment planning process caused negative feelings and discomfort, but in a context that was ultimately experienced as empowering and constructive.
