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Climate Services for Coping with Climate Change, Drought, and
Extreme Heat in the México-U.S. Border Region
provide a strong foundation for risk communication. However,
they expressed concern about the degree to which forecast
messages were understood by decision makers and the public.
They recommended focused public communication around the
theme of a
heat season awareness week
, with public events and
communication through television, newspaper, and social media.
They recommended social science research to determine the
best practices for communication at various lead times, with
an emphasis on preparing the public for forecast uncertainties.
Participants noted that forecasts with longer lead times can be
used to pre-position assets (mobile cooling units, for example),
and raise public awareness at the start of the heat season.
Communication and Engagement.
This work group stressed the need
to communicate with vulnerable populations, in collaboration
with trusted organizations that deliver heat health messages for
further action. They noted the need for increased effectiveness in
reaching underserved communities, such as colonias, homeless
populations, undocumented immigrants, and communities at the
rural-urban interface. They recommended the development of
an inventory of organizations, institutions, and initiatives focused
on heat and health, in order to improve coordination of future
education and communication outreach. In particular, they noted
the effectiveness of community health workers and promotoras
for reaching residents in colonias. They acknowledged the
strength of community-academic partnerships for improving
communication and engagement with the public.
Capacity Building and Training
. Participants in this group identified
collaboration, planning and process as the highest priorities for
enhancing capacity and developing and deploying training on
heat health issues, preparedness, and response. In particular,
they recommended that capacity building and training efforts
reach across multiple scales (i.e., individual, household, local
government, state and federal levels), with good coordination
