Fostering Resilience in the Face of an Uncertain Future: Using Scenario Planning to Communicate Climate Change Risks and Collaboratively Develop Adaptation Strategies

Communicating about climate change is a serious challenge. There is an urgent need to develop effective processes at the local level to engage, inform, and support decision-makers in their efforts to plan for the impacts of climate change. This is particularly urgent in Alaska, where the impacts of climate change are already being felt. The Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has spent the past 7 years facilitating the use of scenarios for climate change planning. In this case study highlighting SNAP’s collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS), we explore how the scenario planning process can be applied to support effective communication of climate risks. The scenario planning process is a promising approach for engaging diverse individuals in a dialogue that promotes a new way of thinking about uncertainty while facilitating the coproduction of knowledge.