Red Cross volunteers assessing Early Action needs during the Joal community EW-EA drill, Aug. 9th 2009
After a recent visit to the International START Secretariat in Washington DC, I was inspired to share the conclusions of my fellowship with the larger group.
I was a Policy fellow based at the Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal) this summer, and my principal activity consisted of hosting a training workshop that would bring together the scientists from the University (most of them climate modelers) with the users of climate information at the very basic community-level: Red Cross community volunteers across Senegal. [I was familiar with bringing together scientists, and regional-level Red Cross disaster planners for an increased use of seasonal/mid-range forecasts for better disaster preparedness and contingency planning, but this was my first time attempting this process at the national level where the gap between providers and users of climate information remained so wide].
The workshop, held from July 9-10 2009 in Dakar, ended up bringing together the entire climate science community in Senegal (representatives from the National Met Service, modelers from the University, satellite imagery experts and hydrologists, for a total of 14 scientists) face-to-face with 30 Red Cross volunteers and community organizers. We deemed it important to invite along the actual providers of short-term weather forecasts in Senegal (National Met Service), as well as topography experts and hydrologists (in a country recurrently hit by severe floods) because we surmised, and rightfully so, that their message would resonate most with users.
Thus, on the one end of the discussion table were seated the climate scientists, all-knowing experts of their science who had for the large majority however never reached out in their life to users who did not understand a word of their scientific jargon (people who did not know for the life of them what convection was, had never heard of El Nino); and on the other were the Red Cross volunteers, who had come from the 11 regions of Senegal, but who had never seen a climate forecast before, and for the most part did not see its relevance to their daily lives nor to the humanitarian relief work they conduct in the advent of a disaster.
The challenges were clearly laid out: both communities had to actively listen to each other, share their knowledge (on the science of climate forecasting on the one hand, and on community indicators, experiences and information needs on the other), and learn from each other over the course of the 48 hours they were gathered together. At the heart of the workshop was the fervent belief that both communities had a tremendous deal to learn from each other, and that they had to come to that realization by themselves to develop a thirst for additional interaction and sustained communication with each other. Through guided activities, formal and informal discussions and interactive games, they indeed came to that realization by themselves , and very powerfully so.
Indeed, what emanated from this face-off was simply magical. On the one hand, scientists, accustomed to holding the microphone for hours in a row during their class lectures or at international fora with fellow climate scientists, learnt to listen to the information needs of the Red Cross community users who told them loudly and clearly that the forecast bulletins they issue on a regular basis were of no use to them as is. A game activity conducted during Day 2 of the workshop brought scientists face to face with the reality that users would act on ALL received forecasts, regardless of probability levels. Thus they realized by themselves that they needed to start issuing operational ALERTS, and not jargon-filled forecast bulletins, and would need to work hand-in-hand with RC users to craft alert thresholds, information transfer mechanisms, etc…
Red Cross volunteers on their end came to realize the incredible value added that forecasters could bring to their relief work and lives, by informing them of likely atmospheric conditions and hazards, as well as giving them more information on which to base their decisions under uncertainty.
Finally, scientists found in the 30 Red Cross volunteers present at the workshop a network who could serve as relays of meteorological information in the communities where they live, are a part of and are trusted. As repeatedly emphasized by many of the scientists who took part in the workshop, they had never believed they could communicate their science to untrained “laypeople” so effectively. This is a process they looked forward to engaging in time and again. The sheer excitement that read on the scientists’ faces at seeing their forecasts that they bend over backwards producing finally heeded and put to use was just invigorating.
The workshop concluded with the following very strong joint pledge by both communities: “We will never Again Act without Knowing; nor Know without Acting”.
Post-Scriptum: Two weeks after attending the Dakar workshop, 6 of the 30 trained Red Cross volunteers went back to their communities and hosted a joint Early Warning- Early Action drill with two hundred (200) community volunteers in the small community of Joal, during which they rehearsed early actions they would undertake if they received a forecast for a flood in the next 48 hours from the National Met Service.
What this workshop highlighted most clearly for me was the urgency of bringing national providers and users of meteorological information closer, and establishing an operational Early Warning System in Senegal, and in all other countries where none exists, one that is able to transmit salient, accurate and understandable alerts to community relays such as Red Cross volunteers, other grass-roots networks and local authorities who could in turn transfer this information to populations at risk, thus averting all the damage, loss and grief resulting from completely predictable hazards. Also, dissemination mechanisms within the framework of this Early Warning System were clearly expressed as a requisite (TV, radio transmission, megaphones, etc…).
The process of getting the two communities (scientists and users) together was in itself rich in lessons. To gloss quickly over how the workshop proceeded, Day One was mostly devoted to scientists in the teacher role and RC learning about the scientific Early warning tools available to facilitate their decision-making under uncertainty, whereas Day Two was most focused on Early Actions that RC could take based on forecasts, with the RC at the helm, ending with the larger discussion on how to operationalize information transfer from the Met to communities in the future. Throughout the entire workshop nevertheless rules were established to ensure an equilibrated dialogue and bilateral exchanges between the two communities (scientific modules imparted in small groups setting of 5-10 trainees, no powerpoints rule: only games and audiovisual supports to foster more direct exhanges, Red Cross trainees held responsible for restituting in the afternoon what they understood from material taught in the morning) and the participatory methodology was used from beginning to end.
All in all, this experience was a highly fulfilling one that proved that the gap between scientists and users is indeed “bridgeable”, even at the national-to-community level. Most importantly, my entire workshop was organized with no more than $3,000. Yet this was enough to enable two days of intensive dialogue and interactions between the two communities; too often strangers to one another whereas, they are natural partners in the endeavor to save lives and preserve livelihoods in the face of increasing hydro-meteorological disasters.
I recommend that many more such training workshops be hosted, as a means to bring Climate Science into Policy (Action) realms, and Policy to Science realms. In bridging the gap between providers and users of climate information at the national level today lies the crux of the challenge of climate adaptation.
Only through this way can climate information serve Development, communities be given access to forecasts at shorter timescales, and early warnings be effectively translated into Early Action, useful to communities and society at large.
Download Arame’s Final Report on her Fellowship Project
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Hi Tall; very good job. I am a policy fellow too, and i think you did a very good thing. this is a exemple for all of us. congratulation
Hi Arame,
I am very pleased with you for having shared with the scientific community your interesting experience with this workshop that you had held in Dakar.
Good continuation!!!