Climate Engagement

Photo 1: Iran gym session. World Wide Views on Climate and Energy (June 6, 2015). Credit: WWViews Partners | Photo 2: Community-based disaster preparedness meeting. Active role of local NGOs. Semarang, Indonesia. Credit: 漏 Kota Kita Foundation | Photo 3: Gambia: citizens debating. World Wide Views on Climate and Energy (June 6, 2015). Credit: WWViews Partners | Photo 4: Technical city visit, Urban Flood Resilience Project (2019). Credit: 漏 Kota Kita Foundation

Short-term pressures, difficult policy trade-offs, partisan U-turns and polarization have delayed climate action in many countries around the world. A more collaborative relationship between government, civil society and the communities they serve can accelerate the shift to net-zero emissions.

Through capacity building, demonstration projects and strategic advice, the Centre for Dialogue helps governments and practitioners accelerate climate action, centre under-heard voices and co-create movements for transformative change.

Explore below our growing body of tools, resources and case studies on climate engagement that can support your work.

Five Types of Climate Engagement

Innovations in climate engagement are currently taking place around the world, building on decades of learning and experience to generate public input that is representative, informed and actionable. These public participation processes engage residents, citizens, under-represented communities and stakeholders in shaping actions and decisions to address climate change. Our analysis shows five categories of climate engagement that are important for governments to consider when developing their engagement strategies:

Citizen deliberation to work through trade-offs and find hidden consensus using representative mini-publics, as demonstrated through recent climate assemblies in , , , and , as well as through the Citizen Dialogues on Canada鈥檚 Energy Future.

More about citizens鈥� assemblies on climate

Relationship-based engagement to advance shared goals and climate justice in partnership with affected communities, as seen in , the work of and .

More about centering equity in climate engagement

Place-based engagement to increase relevance to participants鈥� daily lives and unlock the agency, networks and capacity of local groups, as demonstrated by green participatory budgeting projects in more than 15 cities worldwide, CityStudio, and the Polder Model.

Large-scale engagement to crowdsource ideas and co-create narratives across wider populations, as seen in the New Orleans Unified Plan and The Big Climate Conversation.

Systems-oriented engagement to increase opportunities for learning and impact using iterative approaches and multiple engagement channels, as seen in the Healthy, Clean Cities Deep Demonstrations program and The Global Climate Assembly.

Resources

Our Work

Staff and Fellows at the Centre for Dialogue are leading various climate engagement initiatives, accelerating climate adaptation and mitigation from a local to a systems level.