The Climate Impacts Group partners with a diverse network of people and communities across the Northwest to build regional climate resilience. 

The Climate Impacts Group works directly with public sector agencies, Northwest tribes, the private sector, non-profit groups and other academic institutions to produce the knowledge, tools and capacity needed to reduce climate risks. 

Within these organizations, we work primarily with “decision makers” – people with the authority to make decisions or take actions relevant to building climate resilience, such as assessing climate risks and evaluating and selecting climate risk management approaches. These are people who manage our utilities and transportation systems, forests and coasts, and other vital resources. We work with decision makers across a range of sectors, geographic areas and cultural and social backgrounds. 

Our partnerships range from informal collaborations to multi-year collaborative research projects. 

“Working with the UW Climate Impacts Group, we can adjust our expectations and make scientifically sound and economically sensible choices that will realign our infrastructure, our economy, and our management of natural resources with a changing climate.”

 

— Jay Manning, Director of the Washington Department of Ecology (2005 to 2009) and Chief of Staff for Washington Governor Christine Gregoire (2009-2011)

How we partner

We are responsive to our partners’ needs, capacities and values. We recognize that groups across the Northwest are in different stages of the climate adaptation process and we support communities at all stages in this process. 

Our work is grounded in community values. Through listening sessions, interviews and other participatory methods, we develop an understanding of what is important to the community and what climate impacts they are most concerned about.

Working alongside communities, we develop research on how climate change might threaten or alter natural resources, infrastructure, community spaces and other assets or values they have identified. We work together to identify steps the community can take to lessen the potential impacts of climate change and to support the implementation of those steps through technical consultations and more. Our research processes integrate local knowledge and expertise.

Our partnerships with frontline communities build on community strengths while recognizing and addressing barriers to action and redressing historical inequities. 

We partner with tribes, communities of color, rural communities and other frontline communities to build climate resilience. By co-creating scientific knowledge and centering community voices in science, we aim to build trust and develop long-term and meaningful collaborations. Our partnerships with Native American tribes center sovereignty and self-determination.

Opportunities for partnership

We welcome new partnerships and opportunities to support climate resilience. If you are interested in partnering with the Climate Impacts Group, contact us at 206-616-7903 or via email.