Climate Conversations Starter Guide – For the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania

Through the Climate and Rural Systems Partnership (CRSP), Carnegie Museum of Natural History partnered with a rural conservation district and learning researchers at University of Pittsburgh to build a learning network with two regional hubs. Each hub invited community organizations to join and work together to develop strategies to support productive, science- and community-based dialogue among network members and with public audiences. Together, we worked in a Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) to enhance climate literacy through a network that bridged urban and rural professionals. This Climate Conversation Starter Guide is a product of the RPP that gives locally relevant examples of climate impacts and resilience in a mountainous area in Western Pennsylvania called the Laurel Highlands. Network members described a need to ground their own understanding of climate change in science-based evidence, through examples that could easily connect to the lived experiences of their community stakeholders. The Conversation Starters summarize scientific data about the unique ecology of local ecosystems, and make connections to ongoing climate resilience initiatives including renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and forest conservation, that were taking place in local communities at the time we developed this resource.