Co-producing Infographics for Climate Action in Aotearoa New Zealand
Infographics (information graphics) are representations of information in a graphic format designed to make the data easily understandable at a glance. This oral presentation focuses on a suite of infographics created to communicate New Zealand relevant climate change impacts and implications to a range of publics. The presentation narrates this collaborative six month co-creation project between researchers, public officials, communication experts, and graphic design professionals and presents the final outputs, as well as post-project information dissemination activities.
The project co-produced ten static infographic modules through a partnership between researchers, Regional Councils and City Councils. These communication tools capture the complexity of the science and present it in easy to interpret formats that non-experts can intuitively understand. Their primary intended purpose is to aid decision-makers in understanding the impacts and implications of present and future climate change, and to assist them in making appropriate decisions to cope with and adapt to these impacts and implications.
In the first instance the infographics are intended for internal council to council consumption at a regional and national level. In addition, a selection of the modules are also suitable for more public facing communication. The work has strengthened channels of collaboration and has built stronger research-policy partnerships educating and empowering council staff and informing researchers of on-the-ground policy needs.
Stephen Flood slides.pdf
Stephen Flood is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute in Victoria University of Wellington and a director and head of research at Smartearth Ireland; an international climate and development consultancy. He has over ten years’ experience in the environment and climate change sphere and has a broad range of research interests including climate change adaptation and decision-making, coastal management, visual communication of climate change, as well as climate finance and capacity building in the Pacific and Africa.