Alexandra Baixinho

In the 1950s, an american psychiatrist called Frederic Wertham argued that comics were harmful due to the explicit use of violent images, thus joining a choir of educators and librarians which opposed it. Although some of these criticisms about comics are still present today, they have been increasingly used to communicate about scientific issues in the last years. In the context of the project “ClimAdaPT. Local” funded by the EEA Grants, which concerns adaptation to climate change at municipal level in Portugal, a comic book was done to explain concepts and ideas concerning this issue. More specifically, particular stories of portuguese citizens directly affected by extreme weather events attributed to climate change are mixed with scientific explanations of possible solutions for adaptation at local level. The book will soon be printed in both portuguese and english and is directed at teenagers and adults. This presentation aims to provide an overview of the use of comics in visual science communication, as well as to explain the process of creation of this specific comic book from the initial idea to the final printing. Moreover, perceived advantages of the media such as the blending of words and images and the ability to control the pace of the story and disadvantages of such as a dependency of an artist and the difficulties of funding will also be mentioned.

This is a very first presentation of ClimAdaPT.Local project, as well as some of its first results. The project is aligned with the main aims of the European Strategy for Adaptation to CC and of the Portuguese Strategy for Adaptation to CC (ENAAC). Searching for an effectively promotion of CC adaptation at local level, the following are the main objectives: 1. Embedding the climate change  adaptation  dimension  on  municipal  level  in  Portugal;  2.  Creating  a  community  of  municipal  actors,  aware  of  climate  change  issues  and  trained  for  the  use  of  decision  support  tools on adaptation; 3. Promotion and provision of local adaptation knowledge particularly in the definition of strategies, planning and implementation of measures and results communication; 4. The reduction of barriers and constraints on the local actors involvement on adaptation process; 5. Integrating adaptation into municipal and sectoral agents decision and planning processes. A transdisciplinary and highly recognized team is supporting 26 pilot-municipalities in elaborating their  own  Municipal  Adaptation  Strategies  and  facilitating  their  implementation.  This  team  is  simultaneously  raising  awareness  of  local  stakeholders  and  providing  training  to  municipal  technicians  regarding  Climate  Change  Adaptation  issues,  while  promoting  Adaptation  mainstreaming  into  local  planning  tools/policy.  It  will  also  develop  products  that  will  facilitate  municipal  strategies  elaboration  and  implementation  by  the  pilot-Municipalities  involved  in  this  project  and,  in  the  near  future,  the  goal  is  to  spread  this  approach  to  all  the  other  Portuguese  Municipalities.This presentation will be focused on the methodologies/process of engagement of stakeholders, and in a first diagnosis of reality, drawing on the results of the first questionnaire survey applied to 52 participants (municipality’s representatives) in the project.

The audio paper is an experiment in combining two different soundscapes: a sonic composition of field recordings from Hallingskarvet mountain and an urban waterfront atmosphere, with the site-specific real time sounds of Islands Brygge. Baixinho and Blom explore what happens when we mix sounds from a Norwegian mountain with sounds from a Danish urban, post-industrial waterfront environment and its contemporary recreational uses. How does the pre-existent aural environment integrate and dialogue with our “invading” sonic composition? How do sounds mix, overlap or distinguish themselves? The audio paper reflects on the content of both independent soundscapes and explores the outcomes of this mingling.