OUR CHANGING PLANET
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program
for Fiscal Year 2006

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Communications

The CCSP Strategic Plan calls upon CCSP agencies and departments to coordinate their communications efforts while focusing on two goals:

• Disseminate the results of CCSP activities credibly and effectively
• Make CCSP science findings and products easily available to a diverse set of audiences.

In order to accomplish these objectives, the CCSP Strategic Plan states that CCSP will formalize a working group to develop and help implement an interagency communications plan for the program. During FY 2004, the Communications Interagency Working Group (CIWG) was formally established. The CIWG completed a 1-year implementation plan that the CCSP Principals approved in January 2005. The implementation plan will guide CCSP’s coordinated interagency communications efforts for the balance of FY 2005 and early FY 2006.

Under the implementation plan, the CIWG will help produce:

• Products on climate change science fundamentals such as “Frequently Asked Questions” and educational fact sheets
• A series of information pieces about CCSP and its activities
• Fact sheets and other outreach materials and activities on quarterly featured topics that focus on cross-agency research efforts
• Ancillary outreach material to accompany research products issued by CCSP working groups.

The Climate Change Science Program Office (CCSPO), funded and supervised by the agencies and departments participating in CCSP, supports the program’s communications goals, along with members of the CIWG. CCSPO assists the CIWG, coordinates preparation of the annual Our Changing Planet report to Congress as well as other reports, and is responsible for managing the program’s interagency web sites.

Highlights of Recent Interagency Communications Activity

Listed below are highlights of recent communication activities coordinated at the interagency level.

• Published and distributed Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005. CCSP produced 6,000 hardcopies of the report, issued a digital version on CD-ROM, and distributed 1,000 copies of the CD at the Tenth Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-10).
• Added new material to CCSP’s publicly accessible web sites, including:
  • The FY 2004-2005 edition of Our Changing Planet
  • Guidelines for producing CCSP synthesis and assessment products
  • Prospectuses for several synthesis and assessment products, which include background information on the planned report and a detailed roadmap that will be followed in producing it.
• Ensured early and ongoing review of synthesis and assessment products by stakeholder communities.
• Facilitated stakeholder participation in the U.S. Government review of draft documents of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• Facilitated observations and research that led to the production of a large body of publications in the peer-reviewed literature and presentations at scientific conferences.
• Facilitated the initiation of numerous scientific and stakeholder workshops, including an Ecosystems workshop and multiple workshops providing input to the CCSP synthesis and assessment activities.
• Engaged media to respond to queries and promote awareness of the program’s functions and goals and activities to the general, non-scientific public, as well as policymakers and Congress.
• Managed and improved CCSP web sites. Traffic to CCSP’s two main web sites grew rapidly to an average of 5,000 visits per day by the end of FY 2004. CCSPO also has improved integration among the interagency public web sites and improved web services to working groups.
• Assumed responsibility for the Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO), which was managed previously by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University. Mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the purpose of the office is to “disseminate to foreign governments, businesses, and institutions, as well as the citizens of foreign countries, scientific research information available in the United States which would be useful in preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the effects of global change.” GCRIO includes a major web site, with two important features:
  • GCRIO Online Catalog for requesting reports and CDs, which CCSPO upgraded, resulting in a rapid increase in the number of orders received and items shipped
  • Ask Dr. Global Change, which answers global change questions submitted by web site visitors, with selected answers also posted to a publicly accessible online archive of answers.
• Established and managed the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) web site. CCSPO also provides additional support services to CCTP, including development and management of password-protected web sites and publications support.

Highlights of CCSP Interagency Communications Plans for FY 2006

Listed below are some of the communications activities coordinated at the interagency level and planned for FY 2006:

• Ensure early and ongoing review of new synthesis and assessment products by stakeholder communities.
• Convene a CCSP workshop, “Climate Science in Support of Decision Making,” for scientists and stakeholders in November 2005.
• Prepare, publish, and disseminate the FY 2006 and FY 2007 editions of Our Changing Planet .
• Facilitate stakeholder participation in the U.S. Government review of draft documents of the IPCC.
• Define and launch one or more pilot projects, as outlined in the CCSP Strategic Plan .
• Continue to improve and expand websites:
  • Prepare and post new web content
  • Improve web site
    usability and accessibility
  • Enhance integration between agency and interagency web sites
  • Expand web services to CCSP working groups.