Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series (2025)
Chapter: Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses
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Appendix D
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Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Appendix D
Thibodaux World Café Session Responses
Each board from the World Café Session is represented as a table (Tables D-1–D-6) in this appendix. The text from each sticky note added by participants is captured in the first column. The tallies in the second column are votes cast by participants that indicate support or strong agreement with the comment on the corresponding sticky note.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE D-1 Formal Response Processes Board
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Conduct more drills and exercises that include community outreach | |||| |||| | |
| Amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to give the Incident Command System authority to insist on damage assessment studies even if the responsible party doesn’t agree and the responsible party must still pay for them | |||| | |
| Local government Oil Pollution Act staff training | |||| |
| Practice the existing community involvement mechanisms in the incident management handbook | ||| |
| Establishing and maintaining robust baseline environmental data is essential for effective oil spill impact assessment and recovery planning | ||| |
| Formally integrate damage assessment into the Incident Command System/response effort as an EQUAL partner | ||| |
| Regional stakeholders committee integrated into Incident Command System | ||| |
| Public Information Assist Team to be assigned to form listening sessions driving a response to improve community communications and issues | || |
| Designate community engagement as action item before, during, after, and preventive of future events | | |
| Get Sea Grant to provide spatial data on ethnic/fishing communities along the coast in the potential spill impact area | |
| How do we protect local people organized during a disaster response short- and long-term? | |
| Community liaison as part of Incident Command System, possibly under the Environmental unit and/or the health unit (like in California) | |
| Context of chronic incidents should be communicated (i.e., fifth spill in this water in ten years) | |
| Connect communications/alerts from response to local government texts (“reverse 911”) | |
| Better and more timely public info provided during a response (i.e., resources at risk that is part of the approved Incident Action Plan) | |
| Oil Spill 101 to educate the community on spill response tools, procedures, and structure | |
| Use of Geographic Information System for visualizing response operations | |
| Regional Stakeholder Committees get in the Gulf Incident Command System |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE D-2 Community Involvement in Preparedness Board
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Add community and tribal panel/module into US Coast Guard crisis management training course | |||| |||| |
| Engage industry to include community involvement in exercises | |||| ||| |
| Create a response planning standard so locals can participate in response and practice in advance or contract and paid for their time | |||| |
| Allow community members to provide input and practice response technologies such as vessels of opportunity, placing boom, etc. | |||| |
| Expand recommendations – Amend federal oil spill claims process to reimburse/compensate subsistence loss | ||| |
| Pay locals to participate and help organize the meetings | ||| |
| If the plan includes others, i.e., school, city, tribe, include an active funded role for them in plan | || |
| Policy development to response and training must have directive to engage Area Contingency Representatives – annex separate activities at local level | || |
| Re-establish consensus ecological risk assessment as a framework to bring the community into preparedness awareness/engagement | || |
| Tribal consultation for state tribes with coastal membership Community involvement from the very beginning | || |
| Make community engagement an incident objective on the Incident Command System 201 | || |
| Make tribal and community input during preparedness and response ACTIONABLE! | | |
| Need a mechanism for integrating local fishers to be trained in response | | |
| If the village needs resources what will be the process after – often none have enough and when can we get some | | |
| Involve communities in the Regional Response Team or Area Committee meetings. If these aren’t accessible, take these issues and planning to community-driven meetings | | |
| Vessels of opportunity program during Deepwater Horizon – how did it work? How did it end? | | |
| Liability will be a concern when using community members. How is this handled? | | |
| Incorporate community and tribal priorities into the Incident Action Plan | |
| Steady funding and accountability for Local Emergency Planning Committees – many don’t meet/are less inclusive |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Integrate drinking water authorities into planning (and health authorities) | |
| Change PREP objectives to engage and listen to tribal representatives | |
| ACP annex to address socio/economic potential impacts |
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Area Contingency Plans should specifically include mental and community health annexes, just like there are sensitive areas, cultural resources, etc. | |||| || |
| Community liaison position within the Incident Command System working on environmental, social, and governance issues | |||| || |
| SoVI – social vulnerability index’s environmental justice, etc., are mapped at detail that can be the initial basis for identification of vulnerable communities | |||| |
| How do we build mental and community health into the Incident Command System? Liaison role description change or secondary liaison role specifically for HEALTH? | ||| |
| How do we create an industry cooperative for mental health or put money back in the hands of people and local community organizations | || |
| Preparation needs assessment of behavioral health services | || |
| “SOCIAL CAPITAL” value of citizen organizations in ameliorating mental stress | | |
| Telehealth mental health services | |
| Mental health support during and post for response workers, vessels of opportunity crew | |
| Preparation: identify organizations with trauma-related behavioral health services |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE D-4 Communication and Trust Board
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Create RCACs in other regions to establish clear lines of communication and trusted sources | |||| |||| |
| Create mechanisms for unified command to get information from communities and make sure there is feedback, so they know they were heard | |||| |
| Build trust by accurately communicating uncertainty | |||| |
| Take advantage of marine advisory groups to reach the community and build bridges of trust | |||| |
| Identify organizations that are trusted by the community and using those connections to address questions, issues, etc., perhaps through workshops | ||| |
| Reconstitute (fund) a Sea Grant Oil Spill Outreach Program – make national? | ||| |
| People trust Sea Grant (not necessarily the industry or regulatory agencies) | ||| |
| Have to find a way to remove the fear of litigation or find a spokesperson who is not afraid to speak truth to power | ||| |
| Answer community concerns | || |
| We need to drop some of the language we use – it’s disingenuous to say things like “dispersants are just soap like you use in your house” I heard someone say – put a few drops of dish soap in your aquarium and see how long the fish last | || |
| Communities need plans and living plans grown through generations | | |
| Event report and community report | | |
| Change the perception of risk so that safety is a priority and celebrated with industry in the discussion | | |
| Federal agency reports: include stories to illustrate why their work is valuable | | |
| Use model of regional stakeholder committees to more formally hear from stakeholders and communities | | |
| Instill ownership in the spill response and planning process by engaging local resources | | |
| Visit vulnerable communities in their “space” and listen to their concerns. Then develop plans to act on these concerns - but 1st discuss the plans with the community to make sure that they are active participants in implementation. Review/revise | | |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Create opportunities to meet agency staff (USCG, NOAA, etc.) in non-crisis, joyful settings (e.g., community festivals) | |
| Bring communities and stakeholders in early - prevention, response, developing research questions - instead of telling what data needs to be collected or what resources should be prioritized for study | |
| Communication needs to occur on multiple levels, there is not just one silver bullet. It will cost money and resources but need to convey messages in multiple formats to reach the community and to make sure meetings don’t conflict | |
| Communities need to have our own communications. Communities need to know how it is communicated elsewhere | |
| Long-term ongoing process – approach as an inquiry with curiosity – keep it alive and engage in the question | |
| Agency → Trust Involving communities in communication on strategies, language, modalities, and messages |
|
| Create change from the inside of industry – engage industry employees in conversations about risk, community concerns, and desired change | |
| Neutral, respected party as convener – Sea Grant, universities, etc. | |
| Making sure people appointed to communicate with communities are good listeners, have empathy, and takes the time it requires to build trust. You can’t just send anyone! | |
| Is there a place or space for funding a leadership institute that would bring together diverse stakeholders? (Like the Natural Leadership Institute NRLI) | |
| Communication of context e.g., “this is the xth spill into Barataria Bay in Y years” | |
| Opportunities to be engaged in the process builds trust! Planning, response, Incident Command System, etc. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
TABLE D-5 Community-Driven Research Board
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Throw money at the barriers to participation (pay for expertise and labor, solve problems like transportation, training, childcare) | |||| |
| Pay community advisors who help make research relevant | |||| |
| Need to recognize that community input and local knowledge has value. Find ways to make sure people are recognized for their input | |||| |
| “Adopt a Scientist” help scientists get comfortable with locals’ culture | |||| |
| Teach people to do community research | ||| |
| Move beyond the “how will you engage communities” in your proposal | || |
| Work to help community to leverage research to help us. Community owned and controlled multigenerational research | || |
| Keep showing up | || |
| Requires local knowledge and relationships to provide a connection and organization | || |
| Allow communities to know who is working or gathering the information - set up process to present during research not just giving them a report at the end of the project | || |
| Promote “communiversity” model from HBCUs | | |
| Create the space for dialogue | | |
| Know the local politics | |
| National policy - NOT community sacrificed to allow policy | |
| Community guides who, what, when, where, and why | |
| Community-based participatory research principles are important | |
| The RCACs are funding this research | |
| Who are the gatekeepers? | |
| Create relationships - use your social networks | |
| Center and credit community members as the co-PIs (speaking at conferences, involving as co-authors) | |
| How can you be inclusive? Is your participant sample diverse? Representative of the entire community? | |
| Is the community ready or able to participate in research? Is there a partner org on the ground that has capacity? | |
| Community drives the research, collects the network | |
| Trust and ownership of data; confidentiality of data | |
| Identify multiple forms of reaching people |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
| Sticky Note Text | Additional Votes |
|---|---|
| Expand language for what OPA money can be spent on instead of response only, include preparedness, prevention, and recovery | |||| |
| More funding consistently - less episodic | |||| |
| Federal law for oil leasing should require money in advance for cost of abandoning wells and pipelines | |||| |
| Increase spill reporting access (online app?) and awareness | ||| |
| Normalize controlled oil releases for improving preparedness and response | ||| |
| Policy analysis of intentional collaboration. How to break barriers (cross-boundary money/equipment and money for participants) | || |
| Prioritize spill risks and contingency plans in arctic. Compounding impacts and risk of development and climate change (permafrost thaw and melting sea ice) | || |
| One dollar in prevention equals 18 dollars in cost savings → prioritize prevention | | |
| Capture lessons learned on real restoration from Deepwater Horizon | | |
| Allow communities to know who is working or gathering the information - set up process to present during research not just giving them a report at the end of the project | |
| Use some of the OSLTF [Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund] money for prevention | |
| Require states with oil production to protect drinking water supplies (water quality enforcement) | |
| Pennsylvania is capping orphan wells from fracking. Need a similar system here in the Gulf | |
| Normalize chronic risks of spills. These have been well-documented for decades | |
| National policy should not come at the cost the community health and safety. Importance of tradition and culture | |
| On Frank’s (Paskewich) map, why were there no response agencies in SW, Africa, Russia, and Asia? |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix D: Thibodaux World Café Session Responses." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Gulf-Alaska Knowledge Exchange: Learning from the Legacy of Past Oil Spills: Proceedings of a Workshop Series. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29176.
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