Workshop Outline and Template

Working together for systems change

A tool to help you understand who is important to involve in planning and delivering local climate resilience and adaptation actions. Places, communities, and organisations cannot adapt in isolation; it requires the involvement of different individuals and institutions, bringing them on board and influencing decision making. Building climate resilience is a process that needs collaboration at different scales, so it is useful to map out who needs to be involved. This can help:

• Identify potential stakeholders (groups, networks, projects, underrepresented groups) to involve
• ‘Power map’ stakeholders (identify their levels of knowledge/influence) and the links between them.
• Prioritise those groups or networks that could potentially have the greatest reach, or that are particularly important to involve

The tool is for anyone who is beginning to work on climate change adaptation in their place and wants to understand who they should involve. This tool will also be helpful for groups that have been engaged in local climate action and want to re-evaluate who they are engaging with.

Improving community engagement

Exposed to westerly and south-westerly Atlantic weather systems, the Outer Hebrides are a series of islands where the inhabitants are already well versed in coping with severe weather.

Driven by a desire to improve engagement on climate risk and resilience with local communities, the Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership (OHCCP) Climate Change Working Group (CCWG), alongside the Làn Thìde Climate Beacon, the Adaptation Scotland programme, and the Met Office created a project to explore the development of a storyline to communicate climate change information to the Outer Hebrides community.

Examples of climate impact story mapping used in the project

Music from climate data

Collaborating with a local artist, Sandra Kennedy, a collection of musical pieces, collectively named Tuil is Geil (Gaelic for “Flood and Wind”) was created through a combination of sonified climate data, local voices and field recordings of local weather.

The three pieces were created and these musical pieces, alongside a science presentation on projections of climate change for the Outer Hebrides, formed the centre of public engagement sessions where members of the public were able to share their thoughts about climate vulnerabilities and adaptation needs on the islands.

These tools provide the OHCPP Climate Change Working Group and Làn Thìde with a new and innovative tool to communicate future climate trends and projections in a way that is interesting and accessible, to generate discussion and gather local knowledge and lived experience to inform adaptation planning activities.

Encouraging dialogue

The partners held an event in Stornoway to launch the music. Rather than using the pieces as a prompt for participants to discuss climate impacts and adaptation actions, the event was held more as a gentle and open space for people to react and process some of the emotions the pieces gave rise to.

A facilitated creative writing exercise known as the ‘Golden Shovel’ was used. Attendees were provided with quotes from transcripts of the verbal elements of the pieces, asked to choose one to work with, and wrote it down vertically on their paper. They then created poetry where each word of the quote formed the last word in each line of their poem. Participants then shared their poems with each other, which also allowed them to reflect on thoughts and feelings which had arisen while listening to the pieces.

Creating safe spaces for people involved in adaptation work to acknowledge and process the emotions that can often arise when thinking about climate impacts on their community are important, and these pieces combined with a creative exercise provided a useful, sensitive mechanism to do so.

Eleanor Pratt, Senior Climate Resilience Manager, Sniffer

Business resilience themes: Place

Business Profile

Possilpark has experienced significant changes over recent years as is similar for many town centre areas throughout Scotland. It has a consistent, high-ranking position in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation which exacerbates day to day challenges for businesses. Litter, fly-tipping, crime, feelings of safety alongside access issues are a problem for many businesses.

The rise in energy costs is putting more pressure on businesses and the impacts of climate change add even more pressure. The town centre requires a continued coordinated response from all businesses to address these problems.

The Possilpark BID is branded as Remaking Saracen

Climate impacts

Possilpark is exposed to a number of climate risks which have affected businesses in recent years. These include:

• Flooding in the high street: Saracen Street forms the main high street in Possilpark, and the area has faced significant and repeated flooding in recent years. Even on dry days, there are often multiple areas of pooled water, often blocking access for disabled residents and customers, resulting in reduced customer footfall. This is also linked to litter issues, where wind has caused litter to spill into the street and clog up drains.
• Overheating in outdoor areas: While businesses haven’t faced significant issues with indoor heat stress, this has been an issue for the areas around Saracen Street, including Millennium Square where there is little shade nor green space available. This has made it less attractive for people to use take-away food outlets nearby, or to spend time in the area and continue to shop throughout the day.
• Extreme wind and storms: Residents described Saracen Street as a ‘wind tunnel’, making it a less pleasant place to spend time. The lack of trees and shelter has exacerbated this issue, and some damage to shop fronts and buildings has occurred.

Actions taken

In 2024 the Possilpark Business Improvement District took part in a pilot project as part of Glasgow City Council’s Green Business Support programme, which helps local companies transition to Net-Zero, reduce their energy costs and become more resilient to climate change. As part of this project, the sustainability charity Sniffer supported the Business Improvement District to understand its climate risks and prioritise the resilience actions the business can take.

This included a collaborative climate risk and opportunities mapping event. This brought together members of the Business Improvement District, customers, and local residents associations to collectively map key hazards, and identify potential actions to improve business resilience and make Saracen Street and the surrounding area a more pleasant, inviting, and thriving place. A graphic illustrating the hazards and opportunities was produced, and is being used to inform the next stage of plans for the Possilpark Business Improvement District.

An illustration from the climate risk and opportunities mapping event in February 2024

This briefing discusses what can be done to build climate resilience at a local level in a way that also benefits health.

Working together for change

The Adaptation Scotland programme worked with Public Health Scotland (PHS) and the Improvement Service to develop this introductory briefing on working together to build climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places.

This resource is for local government and partners such as Health Boards, Community Planning Partnerships, and local organisations. It sets out how our changing climate can affect health and health inequalities both directly, and indirectly through impacts on housing, transport, and access to goods and services, which are the building blocks of good health.

People who are socially and economically disadvantaged often experience significantly poorer health and are more vulnerable to climate impacts. These inequalities are underpinned by poverty, lack of power and the unequal distribution of resources and assets in the community.

The briefing discusses what can be done to take a preventative approach to building climate resilience at a local level in a way that also benefits health. It starts with understanding how the challenges are interconnected, adopting a whole system approach and working together to identify actions that address the underlying causes. The resource includes a range of tools and case studies to support this.

Horticulture and visitor services staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and its Regional Gardens are already adapting to climate uncertainty – dealing with floods, prolonged periods of low rainfall, unseasonable temperatures and high winds, and the impacts of pests, diseases and invasive non-native species. This case study looks at the process used to investigate the impact of weather events across the different gardens and how this can be used to best deal with projected climate change.

Some adaptation measures include:

• Planting a mix of species. This increases resilience to pests and diseases, and provides a more effective windbreak and structure to shelter belts.
• When re-designing garden infrastructure, locate facilities such as visitor centres and cafes outside the pay zone to provide access even if the garden is closed.
• When planning staff resource and time, include allowance for clearup and remedial work following extreme weather events.
• Replacing paths with gravel or other porous materials.
• Providing additional drainage and factoring in staff time for keeping drains clear.

Local Authorities in Scotland are taking action to increase resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Here we present a simple directory of local authority contact points for Climate Change Adaptation related enquiries. This directory may be useful for individuals, community groups or businesses who want to find out more about climate change adaptation in their area. You can read more about our work with Public Bodies through our Public Sector Climate Adaptation Network.

You can check which local authority you are in by using the Postcode checker tool.

Please note we cannot guarantee that information provided is up to date. If you would like to contact us about this resource, please email [email protected]

What is participatory mapping?

Participatory mapping — when maps are co-created by local communities — can be a powerful and accessible way to visualise people’s knowledge about their place and build understanding about what is important to protect in a changing climate.

Who is it for?

Anyone who wants to understand what members of their community think about where and how climate change is experienced in their place, and what makes their place resilient and vulnerable to the impacts of the changing climate. This approach works well when run as part of a community event (local farmers market, community larder, festival, etc.), as this allows views to be gathered from those who might normally be not interested in attending a ‘climate change workshop’, and can help stimulate conversations between people. It can also work well as a stand-alone display, for example in a library or community hall, where visitors are invited to add their contributions in their own time.

This approach is for anyone who wants to understand what members of their community think about where and how climate change is experienced, and what makes their place resilient or vulnerable to its impacts. You may wish to use it alongside some of our other new adaptation Tools and Resources too!

What will you have as a result?

A crowd-sourced list of specific places where people observe and experience the impacts of climate change as well knowledge about what is perceived to make the area resilient or vulnerable to these impacts. You can use the outcomes of this activity to inform your community’s approach to climate change adaptation. The process itself is also important, as it requires open and honest dialogue, and ideally a broad and representative section of the community to participate, helping to build awareness and links between people.

How to use it?

For an activity
Print out a large image of your place (the bigger it is, the easier it will be to map detail) from a public map provider, such as OpenStreetMap. Lay it on a table or pin up a poster board and place questions next to it,
such as:

• Where do you experience the impacts of climate change?
• Which places can cope well with the impacts of climate change? Why?
• Which places aren’t coping well with the impacts of climate change? Why?

Place a different kind/colour of sticky dot or pin next to each question and invite people to respond to the questions by adding the appropriate sticky dot to the map. If you are running a digital event, you could use an online whiteboard such as Miro to ask people to put points on the map. As people are responding it is helpful to note down the stories people are sharing, as this approach often leads to broader conversation about the place. You could also use a large print out of the 15 Key Consequences of Climate Change for Scotland infographics to support your conversations.

For a standalone display

If you’d like to read about an example of participatory mapping in action, read our Mapping Our Place case study which shares our experience of developing a pilot approach to gather lived experience and local knowledge of climate change impacts and community priorities for adaptation in North Uist as part of our work with partners in the Outer Hebrides.

Set the map up as above, but instead of the three questions, print out copies of these climate hazard tags (these could also be used in for the activity above too if you prefer). Unlike the activity above, people won’t be talking directly to each other, so these can help capture more detailed information. Ask people to:

• Pick a climate hazard symbol (e.g. wind, flooding, drought) and add notes, based on their experience to describe:
  • Where is this an issue and what was the impact? Specific place names are very helpful!
  • When was/is this an issue (such as particular years, months or seasons)?
  • What or who is at risk (such as people, groups, natural resources, businesses, transportation or other important elements of your place)?
  • Why are they vulnerable (perhaps it is close to the hazard or can’t cope with the impact for some reason)?
• Attach their symbol to the map in the location where these impacts are most serious and repeat for other climate hazards

After the session

Take the information you’ve captured and write this up to summarise where climate change impacts are being experienced, and which elements of the place are particularly resilient or vulnerable. Make sure you take pictures of your completed maps, and depending on how you want to use them you could perhaps work with a local designer or artist to develop a visual or digital version. Remember though that the process and conversations required for participatory mapping are just as important as the actual ‘product’ that is produced!

Scotland’s resilience to climate change impacts is closely linked to land use and ownership. Adaptation Scotland’s report Land Use and Climate Change Adaptation in Scotland: Insights examines this relationship to guide the development of evolving land and climate change policies and practices.

Land and climate change adaptation

Current level of global governmental actions and policies will lead to a warming of 2.7°C by the end of the century and will also continue to rise after that date (Climate Action Tracker, 2022). In Scotland, this would bring warmer temperatures in all seasons, wetter winters and drier summers, more extreme weather events such as flooding, and sea level rise. This, of course, has implications for the land: the ability of habitats and species to thrive, soil health, impacts for crops, livestock, and woodlands.

Fundamentally, we’re talking about the impact of climate change on the systems that sustain the lives of people and other creatures. Reducing emissions to slow down the pace of climate change is crucial, but adapting to its impacts is also important for the future of land as well as people’s and environmental health and wellbeing.

Our approach

Starting in Autumn 2022, Sniffer, in producing this report, reviewed existing research and media publications, and draft policies on land and climate adaptation and resilience. We then held 42 in-depth semi-structured online interviews. We designed the questions and the approach to the interviews in close collaboration with Scottish Government’s Adaptation Team and Scottish Land Commission.

We designed the engagement to include participants from those with the power to make decisions, to those who influence decision-making, to those mainly receiving information and typically having little to no influence. We also had a wide sectoral spread, with participants representing some of the largest community, public and private estates, key land and climate membership organisations and policy makers from different sectors; public, private, third sector, land owning and non-landowning groups.

The interviews explored the relationships between land management, land ownership and climate change, both now, and in the future, looking at how these may need to change to make sure everyone is resilient to climate change impacts. We used an inductive (emergent) approach to analyse the data, developing the themes as they emerged from the interviews.

Policy context

Scotland is now undergoing a period of significant policy change in relation to land use. There are emerging policies, such as new Land Reform Bill due to be laid in from of the Parliament by the end of 2023, forthcoming Agriculture Bill (which will set out the new agriculture support system post-CAP), Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (which is the key adaptation policy in Scotland) as well as the related Just Transition Plan for Land Use and Agriculture that will all shape how the land is Scotland is owned and used.

The report offers a series of priorities to be considered in these policies as well as by organisations and groups involved in land use. These are intended to support policy development to ensure people and the environment in Scotland are adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Findings

The report itself offers a wealth of insights into how climate adaptation and net-zero approaches are perceived by various stakeholders, what are the current adaptation measures in land-use context and how existing policies and decision-making play a role in it. Based on these insights, we identified priorities for enhancing climate change adaptation, specifically in the context of changing land use and ownership in Scotland. These priorities and suggested focus areas will be of interest and relevant to the Scottish Government and others, such as membership organisations who work with land-based businesses and communities, estates, farmers, development trusts, who are involved in land-related work and decisions.

The priorities are presented under the three themes that echo the research findings and analysis:

• Priority 1: Improving knowledge and resources for adaptation
• Priority 2: Connecting climate and land-related policies’ intentions and delivery
• Priority 3: Working towards more fair and just decision-making in land use

The Community Climate Adaptation Routemap is a practical guide to help communities adapt to climate change. No matter what kind of community you are, there are actions you can take to build resilience, prepare for climate change, and make your area healthier, safer, and more comfortable for people and wildlife.

This Routemap offers clear steps for local action groups, community councils, and development trusts to build their resilience to climate change. It is available in English and in Gaelic.

Every community is unique, and so are the impacts of climate change on each place. Addressing climate change can feel overwhelming on top of everything else you’re already working on—it’s complex, interconnected, and it’s not always clear where to start. The Community Climate Adaptation Routemap is based on the belief that it’s both crucial and possible to build resilience and adapt to climate change while also addressing other important community issues like housing, transportation, and jobs.

This Routemap is useful for anyone who wants to:

• Understand and address climate change impacts in your community, now and in the future.
• Discover actions you can take to build resilience and adapt while tackling other community issues.
• Invest in your community to reduce future costs and find out what funding and support are available

The Routemap offers clear definitions of climate change adaptation and resilience, a simple overview of what climate change means for Scotland in the long term, and tools to understand local impacts. It includes 20 examples of practical adaptation actions and many resources to help your community adapt.

Adaptation Scotland produced the Routemap in collaboration with Highlands and Islands Climate Hub, the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), North East Scotland Climate Action Network (NESCAN Hub), and the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN) alongside contributions from ReadyScot, Sustrans, Architecture & Design Scotland, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and others.

This workshop outline and template can help you to create personas to encourage better understanding of climate change, its impacts and adaptation actions for your place.

It is for anyone who wants to design and run creative and engaging conversations about climate change adaptation and develop a more nuanced understanding of how climate change impacts different people. This tool is especially helpful for understanding of climate change impacts on more vulnerable groups (such as women, disabled people, young people, the elderly, or non-human inhabitants of the area).

If you’d like to read about an example of using personas in action, read our case study on Climate Ready Ken.