Strategic communication support for engagement on heat risk to health and electricity

Scientell provided strategic communication support to the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian Climate Service to design workshops that engaged stakeholders on the risk of heat to health and electricity networks.

Client: Australian Climate Service (ACS)

Audience: Health decision-makers, electricity network decision-makers, local council staff, NSW state government representatives, Federal government department staff, First Nations representatives, community groups, university researchers, and representatives from agriculture and commerce.

Description

The Australian Climate Service is undertaking a National Climate Risk Assessment project to explore the decisions people make to prepare for heatwaves and what information is needed to inform these decisions.

Scientell provided science communication advice to design and prepare materials for stakeholder consultation workshops in Townsville and Sydney. The workshops provided information on future heatwave risks to human health and to electricity networks and supply.

We helped the Bureau of Meteorology prepare workshop agendas that would draw out clear messages about the science and aims of the workshops, and elicit stakeholder views and needs.

For the Sydney workshop, we provided 2 independent facilitators to keep the workshop focussed, manage break-out groups, draw out and clarify issues, and help seek honest, open feedback. Scientell compiled comprehensive documentation of the important discussions and conclusions, and produced a full workshop report.

Innovative Features

Scientell developed introduction materials for the Townsville workshop to ensure participants were well-briefed, designing a comprehensive presentation based on storymaps (scrollable online information).