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There is increasing recognition that local narratives of adaptation can support the contextualization of climate risks to specific settings. Narratives help link social vulnerability, exposure and adaptive capacity with climate data, helping to inform climate risk governance and improve our collective understanding of future risks.
Why is co-creating narratives in societies so important for disaster risk reduction under climate extremes? Because “People live their lives as fulfilling a story and it changes motivation in fundamental ways” (Robert Schiller, Author of Narrative Economics). Narratives summarize a variety of fields of knowledge and can transmit messages in the form of stories which may affect behaviors and improve our ability to anticipate and prepare.
Work Package 1 (Demonstrators’ Arena) has developed a template (D1.4 – ‘The HuT for Me and You’) to enable demonstrators to produce narratives. It provides guidelines to co-develop narratives with local stakeholders and aims to be an interactive and living document, so that Demonstrators can continuously provide input and tailor the content to their local context and needs.
Each Demonstrator developed initial narratives (D1.5 - ‘The HuT for Me and You’ Narratives). These were then enhanced using a Climate Story’s format, which employed a sample story, and close co-creation and feedback process. This allowed demonstrators to improve on their initial narratives during the development of their Climate Stories.
The vast majority of Demonstrators improved their initial narratives during the development of their Climate Stories. Each narrative encapsulates the underlying motivations, activities, and strategic objectives specific to each Demonstrator area, while simultaneously eliciting effective engagement and reinforcing place-based relevance at the Demonstrator level.
The Climate Stories have undergone substantial development using a guidance and feedback process. Engaging stories have been shaped from formats commonly used in natural science such as project proposals, technical reports, and scientific abstracts. The stories are now easier to digest and are suitable for wider audiences.
As a result, three distinct story strands have emerged.
I. Climate Stories inspired by the Demonstrator 5 story, as a kind of model that could be used by others. All essential activities at the Demonstrator level to date have been streamed in the story. By incorporating people with whom Demonstrator 5 has maintained close contact and their local anchors, the story gains a personal touch; the information interesting and engaging.
II. Narrative-based game instructions as seen in Demonstrator 3. In this example, the Climate Story is a game manual for The HuT Serious Game. However, it reads like a story that summarizes all essential pillars — predominant climate events, activities and target audience at the Demonstrator level
III. An engaging Climate Story suitable for publication as educational material, https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ef89b1d09f404a709ca59827b8c828a3
All stories share the common feature that previous activities have been streamlined on the Demonstrator side and communicated in a clear and accessible way. Several stories show potential for further use at Demonstrator level, for instance, the Climate Story from Demonstrator 5 is particularly well-suited for presentation to its designated Climate Advisory Board within the pilot city in the near future.
Regarding external dissemination, WP6/ICONS will condense each Climate Story into a 700-word version to be published on the project website under the "Territories" section. In addition, ICONS will compile all stories into a booklet, which will be made available alongside the condensed versions in the "Territories" area.
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