How North Carolina Local Governments Respond to and Communicate about Climate Change

Public Deposited

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
Request Version for Screen Reader
Last Modified
  • April 26, 2022
Creator
  • Reid, Jessica
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program - Environmental Studies
Abstract
  • As human-caused climate change threatens North Carolina municipalities and counties, local governments can play a key role in reducing municipalities’ and counties’ contributions to climate change and increasing their resilience to climate threats. This research study aimed to understand how North Carolina local governments communicate with residents about their responses to climate change. The study involved conducting 12 qualitative interviews with sustainability employees in North Carolina local governments. Results were coded and analyzed to find several themes about the ways participants said local governments communicated about climate responses, received resident input, and implemented successful climate initiatives with public engagement. The majority of participants said they framed climate initiatives to connect with what matters to residents, which is a strategy that aligns with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change communications recommendations. Misconceptions about climate change that participants heard residents express tended to be about climate responses rather than climate science, which is in contrast to literature about climate change as a polarizing topic. While participants commonly identified funding, metrics, and partnerships as factors for successful climate initiatives involving public engagement, COVID-19 emerged as a barrier for communicating and engaging with residents. The strategies and factors that led to successful initiatives and communication as well as barriers to responding to climate change can inform future local government responses to climate change as well as future research on this topic.
Date of publication
DOI
Resource type
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Gray, Kathleen
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program - Environmental Studies
    • Other Affiliation: Center for Public Engagement with Science
Degree
  • Bachelor of Arts
Graduation year
  • 2022
Language
  • English

Relations

Parents:

This work has no parents.

In Collection:

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details How_NC_Local_Governments_Respond_to_and_Communicate_about_Climate_Change_-_Reid__Jessica.pdf 2022-04-26 Public Download