Abstract
The Sarasota-Manatee region is one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States to impacts from sea level rise and coastal flooding. A group of local environmental and science organizations were surveyed in 2018 to determine the extent of existing resources for climate change education and outreach to use with their guests and employees. This survey also asked respondents to identify gaps in available resources and for feedback about the content of any new materials. Based on the survey responses, the City applied for the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice grant to create four professionally produced short videos of diverse community members telling stories about experiencing climate impacts and implementing adaptation or mitigation solutions. A steering committee identified the human-interest stories and included strong Sarasota imagery to increase relate-ability and utilize best practices for behavior change. Interviewees included: a rancher whose family has worked Sarasota County land for generations, a vegetable farmer discussing seasonality changes, a barrier island resident discussing sunny day flooding, members of Sarasota’s historic African American neighborhood discussing flooding, and local coaches and a doctor describing heat impacts on student athletes. These stories allowed entry points to present unified climate projections and actionable solutions through local storytelling and will be shared on public access channels and across over 30 local organizations. The second portion of the grant project was to create digital and print resources to expand upon the videos. This presentation will discuss the thought process that went into producing these local stories, the impacts to-date, and lessons learned.
