Once upon a time in a heatwave - exploring the power of stories to engage and empower people in climate change risk and resilience in Northern Ireland

Once upon a time there was a place called Northern Ireland (NI for short). Not too big or too small, it was just right as a test bed for exploring the power of stories for communicating climate science. NI needs better stories about the future urgently, as although there has so far been no local climate legislation, just like (hydrogen) buses there is now two climate bills going through the motions at the same time. Like a sleeping giant, NI desperately needs to start putting some stones in place to build a causeway - a vision - to a resilient future and to reduce the risks of the climate crisis. The right stories and storytelling, developed with people who know their place the best, can provide narratives which could shift behaviour. If researchers can find a way to inspire action through the understanding of the climate risks and adaptation options, they could build connections to other decision makers, researchers and storytellers elsewhere in the land and all live happily (or at least happier) ever after...

Storytelling can connect with people on a deep level and can move seamlessly from facts and emotions, through to values and positive examples of previous action. This connection using narrative, particularly to examples of previous action, is important for providing people with a sense of agency - an ability to enact change. "The stories that we tell ourselves about what climate change means, who is responsible for responding to it, and what this response should look like are just as important as the technologies, laws and policies that will usher in a more sustainable world" (Corner & Clarke, 2017, pp. 5).

In Once upon a time in a heatwave, story will be explored in three ways:
- The use of visual storytelling (through interactive figures, infographics and a local climate impacts checker)
- Narratives based on climate adaptation options (using novel results from the OpenCLIM project that expand upon the UK SSPs, shared through the medium of ArcGIS StoryMaps)
- Storyline climate analysis to communicate uncertainties in extreme summer heat events, such as the 2018 heatwave and drought (again using novel analysis from OpenCLIM and shared as ArcGIS StoryMaps)

Evaluation of the storytelling methods is vital and will be ongoing throughout the project. Stories will be evaluated with a range of audiences, including decision makers, stakeholders and wider priority audiences (expected to be agricultural/rural communities). Evaluation will take the form of surveys on users' preference and perceived ease of use and understanding, as well as a quantified assessment of whether the conclusions drawn by the users are factually accurate.

Through ongoing evaluation and a series of co-production workshops (D4), the final stories (D1, D2 and D3) will be produced iteratively. The stories will be maintained by Climate NI beyond the duration of the project where it is hoped they will influence public and policy opinion in a crucial year for climate action in NI. Although best practices in visual storytelling and the benefits of storyline approaches have been addressed before in the climate and science communication literature, populations vary spatially and temporally. This project will provide recommendations for Northern Ireland, specifically tailored to its unique situation. These recommendations on best practice from the evaluation will be incorporated into Climate NI's communication strategy (D6) and will be submitted to a peer reviewed journal at the end of the project (D7).