A Web Page and Short Videos for Residents of a Small City

Assignment 4 Double Content Remix

Background on Assignment 3

My audience for Assignment 3 was municipal politicians and administrative staff attendees of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association Convention. I prepared a presentation on the City of Leduc’s climate initiatives and took the opportunity to inspire decision makers to prioritize climate adaptation planning. My key messages for that presentation were as follows.

• Adaptation plans need to be local. Actions must be based on an understanding of climate risks assessments at the local level. 
• Local politicians and staff play a key role in being prepared for these risks and in building community understanding on what climate change means for them, and what they should do about it.  
• Local politicians and staff are essential to developing a vision for the future of their communities: one that is both grounded in fact, and inspires hope.
• Local imagery is an important part of understanding the future and actions that can be taken. Consider residents’ attachments to places they cherish and identify with. Natural features that are frequented such as parks or rivers can help motivate a local vision response (Houlden, 2021).

Audience and Modalities for Assignment 4

The audience for Assignment 4 will be an average resident in a small city in Alberta with access to a digital device and internet connection. 

I selected a web page for the first modality, because this is a foundation to any communications campaign and can be designed around the graphics, which in this case are essential to describing seasonal impacts. I selected a video as a second, more inclusive format to reach a wider audience than the web site. The video is more accessible as it does not require high literacy skills. The subtitles or transcripts would allow for hearing-impaired access. 

Although the web page and videos are in English only, cities should identify the most commonly spoken languages in their region and provide translations for both website content and video captions.

I am hoping to appeal to a broad audience, encompassing the alarmed, concerned, cautious, and even disengaged, and doubtful categories as outlined by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2020), not necessarily to the dismissive, who likely would not visit the website. They may see the videos and leave a negative comment, which can be managed by the owner of the social media account. 

The videos will be highly shareable through social media. Posting these videos on the municipal Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms would increase credibility and trust of the messenger. I have used myself as the spokesperson in the videos. To bolster credibility, there would have to be a level of recognition of the spokesperson in the community, or an explanation of position held. A municipality may want to consider using a council member as the messenger in their videos. 

Assumptions on Municipal Climate Change Priorities

Note that Assignment 4 makes the following assumptions on this small city’s stage of climate change adaptation communications.

• This city would have identified climate adaptation planning as a priority in their strategic planning processes and have Council approval to conduct an associated awareness campaign. 
• This city would have already undertaken an adaptation planning process for their community that considered local climate science and identified likely future climate risks.
• The proposed webpage and videos would be part of a comprehensive campaign involving other communications tools. For example, a more detailed website would be available and include information on the reasons for the adaptation strategy, the inclusive process involved in developing the strategy, the actions and associated costs in the strategy.

Objectives

The objectives for both the web page and videos are two-fold.

1. Create understanding of local seasonal climate changes expected in this region to help residents answer: What will climate change mean for my community? and What will climate change mean for me?  
2. Making use of local places that hold meaning for residents, explain climate considerations that may be perceived positively and negatively, to build a realistic, yet hopeful vision for the future and inspire action.

Acknowledgements

I based the seasonal adaptation content on the City of Edmonton’s Climate Change Adaptation website with a focus on the Seasonal Changes section. I appreciate that Edmonton’s seasonal images and season-specific data were prepared specifically for the City of Edmonton; I have taken the liberty of assuming my small city example is located close enough to the City of Edmonton that the seasonal climate data applies. My suggested web page and video content also integrates findings from City of Leduc’s risk assessment in their Weather and Climate Readiness Plan (2014).  

Proposed Web Page Content

Climate Change: What to Expect in Our City?

Future Autumn in our City

Source: City of Edmonton (n.d.)

Future autumns in our city will be warmer and last longer than they have in the past, delaying the first snowfall. By 2050, the length of the growing season will be 15 to 30 days longer than in the recent past (City of Edmonton, n.d.). One benefit of this change will be a longer gardening and construction season.

In general, we can also expect more precipitation in autumn. Homeowners should ensure their yards are graded so that water drains away from the house, but does not accumulate on adjacent properties. Sump pumps should be tested to ensure proper functioning. Make sure your emergency kits at home are available and replenished. 

Future Winter in our City

Source: City of Edmonton (n.d.)

In the future, winters will be warmer. “There will be fewer nights that dip below -20°” (City of Edmonton, n.d.) and by 2050, we can expect approximately 20 more winter days that stay above 0° (City of Edmonton, n.d.). There will be more precipitation in the form of both snow and rain.   

Freezing rain storms will be more common. Drivers should ensure their vehicles are prepared with winter tires and an emergency kit. Pedestrians should take care when walking. 

One benefit of milder weather is that it may bring more people outdoors for winter activities. Since there will be fewer days ideal for ice skating and shinny hockey, residents may want to consider looking into other ways to get exercise outdoors. 

One way to plan ahead and get involved would be to join a community group of interest to you, or form one if it does not exist. Help your group understand why a changing climate might be important to them. Help raise funds for new initiatives if required. For example, consider joining or forming a ball hockey league that can function outdoors year round, regardless of ice availability. Help fundraise for sporting equipment for youth. 

Do you have ideas for activities that will work in our future winter? We would love to hear from you, send your ideas to climateadaptationideas.ca.

Autumn Climate Tips by Kerra

Winter Climate Tips by Kerra

Transcript for Winter Climate Tips Video:

Hey residents. Kerra here with your winter climate change update. It is definitely winter today: snowing and blowing. I’m here at Telford Lake at the winter skating oval. No ice on the ground yet. And that’s something to think about going forward with climate change. In the future, this region will see warmer winters – so it’s not all bad! For most of us when we hear there’s going to be fewer days below -20 that’s a good thing, but we want to think ahead about our outdoor activities … maybe we need to get creative and think of some other options we can do if we don’t have quality ice on the ground. Maybe we want to look at a ball hockey league or other activities we can do outdoors. We’re interested in your ideas. Let us know what you think.  Get creative. Plan ahead. That’s all for now. See you next time.

References

City of Edmonton (n.d.). Climate Adaptation. Retrieved from: https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/environmental_stewardship/climate-change-adaptation.

City of Leduc (2014).  Weather & Climate Readiness Plan. https://www.leduc.ca/weather-climate-readiness-plan

Houlden, S. (2021). Personal communication.

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2020). Global warming’s six Americas. (2020). Retrieved from: https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/