Webinar: Communicating climate information and uncertainties better: Cognitive psychology insights

Researchers, national meteorological agencies and civil society face many challenges when trying to communicate climate information and uncertainty to decision-makers. These challenges include i) making data visualisations and probabilistic information more accessible, ii) building trust with stakeholders, and iii) working with decision-makers, under significant time and resource constraints, to co-produce relevant information. This webinar shared practical recommendations and a few approaches to generating and communicating climate change information and uncertainties. It drew on insights from cognitive psychology and experiences from Future Climate for Africa’s work in west and southern Africa. This includes engagements to communicate changes in the west African monsoon under climate change, and integrating climate knowledge with urban decision-makers in Lusaka, Windhoek and Maputo. Two approaches receive more attention: the use of climate impact narratives, and data visualisation and probabilistic information. Panel presentations were followed by a Q&A with attendees. Speakers: Ms Emma Visman (VNG Consulting Ltd / King’s College London) and Dr Tanya Warnaars (CEH) Communicating changes in the west African monsoon Skip to Emma and Tanya's presentation 9:31 Dr Christopher Jack (University of Cape Town) Using climate risk narratives for city-region scale decision-making Skip to Christopher's presentation 17:27 Dr Jordan Harold and Dr Irene Lorenzoni (University of East Anglia) Challenges and insights from psychology Skip to Jordan and Irene's presentation 31:24 The combined presentation and list of Q&As is available for download on the Future Climate for Africa website: https://goo.gl/RxaBrQ