A key element of the UWISCA project is the Community of Practice (CoP), which will commence in Autumn 2025.
The transition from more generalised climate information to tailored communications for specific contexts and audiences is a resource-intensive process; however, there is the potential for specialised knowledge networks such as CoPs to disseminate climate knowledge efficiently across broader communities of users (Kalafatis et al., 2015).
A CoP may be understood as “a community whose primary goal is helping practitioners build relationships with each other that are helpful for their practice. It helps people collaborate and solve problems together and gives them resources to be more effective” (Young, 2025).
As part of the UWISCA CoP, participants will build their capacity to design more tailored climate communications using worldviews as a tool. They will be drawn from different sectors in Ireland working with climate communications, including local / national government, the NGO sector, academia, businesses, media and the farming community amongst others.
Our Community of Practice will consist of four short sessions (2 x in-person and 2 x online), running between Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026. These will be structured around:
Issues to be discussed in the sessions will include the results of our public survey conducted in November 2024 to identify dominant worldviews in the Irish population, along with related issues such as climate engagement, mis- and disinformation and polarisation. The Community of Practice will also provide an opportunity for participants to form a peer-to-peer network of climate communication practitioners in Ireland. The climate communication outputs designed by the participants will also form the basis of subsequent public focus groups, to test their effectiveness for increasing public climate action.
The first session of the UWISCA CoP will take place on Thursday 6th November, 2025 and a limited number of places are still available. To participate, please complete the registration form here: https://forms.gle/o9zFZFtmxedgKyF56. It is important that participants attend all four sessions in order to benefit fully from the process and support the development of an effective and mutually supportive peer network.
For further information on the CoP or any other aspect of the UWISCA project, please contact the project team.
References
Kalafatis, S.E., Lemos, M.C., Lo, Y.J. & Frank, K.A. (2015). Increasing information usability for climate adaptation: the role of knowledge networks and communities of practice. Global Environmental Change 15, 30–39. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.02.007.
Young, C. (2025) Why We’re Building Communities of Practice (And Why They Matter). https://workonclimate.org/2025/02/05/building-communities-practice/.
The transition from more generalised climate information to tailored communications for specific contexts and audiences is a resource-intensive process; however, there is the potential for specialised knowledge networks such as CoPs to disseminate climate knowledge efficiently across broader communities of users (Kalafatis et al., 2015).
A CoP may be understood as “a community whose primary goal is helping practitioners build relationships with each other that are helpful for their practice. It helps people collaborate and solve problems together and gives them resources to be more effective” (Young, 2025).
As part of the UWISCA CoP, participants will build their capacity to design more tailored climate communications using worldviews as a tool. They will be drawn from different sectors in Ireland working with climate communications, including local / national government, the NGO sector, academia, businesses, media and the farming community amongst others.
Our Community of Practice will consist of four short sessions (2 x in-person and 2 x online), running between Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026. These will be structured around:
- information exchanges on key climate communication issues relevant to Ireland from a worldviews perspective;
- practical exercises where participants will co-create climate communications based on topics of their choosing.
Issues to be discussed in the sessions will include the results of our public survey conducted in November 2024 to identify dominant worldviews in the Irish population, along with related issues such as climate engagement, mis- and disinformation and polarisation. The Community of Practice will also provide an opportunity for participants to form a peer-to-peer network of climate communication practitioners in Ireland. The climate communication outputs designed by the participants will also form the basis of subsequent public focus groups, to test their effectiveness for increasing public climate action.
The first session of the UWISCA CoP will take place on Thursday 6th November, 2025 and a limited number of places are still available. To participate, please complete the registration form here: https://forms.gle/o9zFZFtmxedgKyF56. It is important that participants attend all four sessions in order to benefit fully from the process and support the development of an effective and mutually supportive peer network.
For further information on the CoP or any other aspect of the UWISCA project, please contact the project team.
References
Kalafatis, S.E., Lemos, M.C., Lo, Y.J. & Frank, K.A. (2015). Increasing information usability for climate adaptation: the role of knowledge networks and communities of practice. Global Environmental Change 15, 30–39. https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.02.007.
Young, C. (2025) Why We’re Building Communities of Practice (And Why They Matter). https://workonclimate.org/2025/02/05/building-communities-practice/.
