Beyond planning tools: Experiential learning in climate adaptation planning and practices

Authors

Kristen M. Schmitt, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Todd A. Ontl, Michigan Technological University
Stephen D. Handler, United States Department of Agriculture
Maria K. Janowiak, United States Department of Agriculture
Leslie A. Brandt, United States Department of Agriculture
Patricia Butler-Leopold, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
P. Danielle Shannon, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Courtney L. Peterson, United States Department of Agriculture
Christopher W. Swanston, United States Department of Agriculture

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-7-2021

Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Abstract

In the past decade, several dedicated tools have been developed to help natural resources professionals integrate climate science into their planning and implementation; however, it is unclear how often these tools lead to on-the-ground climate adaptation. Here, we describe a training approach that we developed to help managers effectively plan to execute intentional, climate-informed actions. This training approach was developed through the Climate Change Response Framework (CCRF) and uses active and focused work time and peer-to-peer interaction to overcome observed barriers to using adaptation planning tools. We evaluate the effectiveness of this approach by examining participant evaluations and outlining the progress of natural resources projects that have participated in our trainings. We outline a case study that describes how this training approach can lead to place and context-based climate-informed action. Finally, we describe best practices based on our experience for engaging natural resources professionals and helping them increase their comfort with climate-informed planning.

Publisher's Statement

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9050076

Publication Title

Climate

Recommended Citation

Schmitt, K. M., Ontl, T., Handler, S., Janowiak, M., Brandt, L., Butler-Leopold, P., Shannon, P. D., Peterson, C., & Swanston, C. (2021). Beyond planning tools: Experiential learning in climate adaptation planning and practices. Climate, 9(5). http://doi.org/10.3390/cli9050076
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/14927

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF