The Climate Communications Initiative (CCI) will coordinate efforts across the National Academies to facilitate rapid and effective communication of evidence-based insights to an attentive public and critical decision makers. The CCI will build on and extend the existing Climate Change at the National Academies outreach efforts (http://nas.edu/climate). By leveraging consensus reports and ongoing activities across the National Academies, the CCI will offer a suite of authoritative and objective materials and engagement opportunities, such as easy to consume digital syntheses, interactive mini-sites, infographics, key data sets, videos, webinars, educational materials, and timely commentary (e.g., blogs) by experts and “influentials.”

Expert oversight and guidance for the Initiative will be provided by the CCI Advisory Committee, which is charged to:

1) Provide strategic direction to the National Academies about implementation of the CCI;

2) Undertake annual evaluations of CCI;

3) Provide oversight for scientific and communications review of specific content and products;

4) Guide efforts to engage target audiences; and

5) Facilitate coordination with other climate-related communications efforts across the National Academies.

TASK 1: Prepare CCI Strategic Plan

The Advisory Committee will develop a strategic plan for the Climate Communications Initiative. The plan will:

1) Articulate a mission, goals, and target audiences for the Climate Communications Initiative.

2) Identify priorities for near-term and longer-term activities.

3) Recommend mechanisms to ensure coordination of related communication activities spanning the National Academies.

4) Recommend mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the impact of the products and activities of the CCI.

After the strategic plan is completed, it will be reviewed and approved internally by the Governing Board Executive Committee.

TASK 2: Develop a User-Centric Climate Inventory

The CCI Advisory Committee will guide the development of a user-centric climate inventory (and supporting infrastructure), for both internal and public-facing purposes, to allow easier access to climate-related content and analysis. This resource will be organized according to a taxonomy informed by ongoing audience learning, beginning by topic (e.g., climate science, impacts, responses), in a multi-layered manner (i.e., with increasing technical detail), and building upon existing communications materials (e.g., “Climate Change at the National Academies” website, Climate Change: Evidence and Causes booklet [2014], America’s Climate Choices [2010-11]).

TASK 3: Create a Rapid Response Capability

The CCI Advisory Committee will develop a rapid response capability – both what to do in response to public statements or debate, and the ability to quickly cull information from our body of work in response to specific queries. This will involve procedures and guidelines to allow rapid decision making, dedicated and empowered staff to prepare responses and update materials, and content that is easily discoverable and re-purposed.

TASK 4: Undertake Systematic Audience Learning

The CCI Advisory Committee will undertake a systematic approach to audience learning in order to develop a clear picture of who is being reached and how well by the Academies’ climate-related activities and outputs. This engagement will involve the 4 phases of a communications learning cycle: (1) listening to and learning from audiences about their needs; (2) building relationships with audiences for on-going dialogue; (3) developing products and communication approaches for audiences based on available material and/or identified needs; and (4) evaluating the efficacy of products and approaches.