How storytelling works
Host
A team would be assembled to coordinate storytelling events and information management as prompted by local government, Metro Vancouver, or regional organizations like the BC Real Estate Foundation. Depending on its mandate or goals a team would comprise of citizens, technical experts, community leaders (e.g. faith based groups), and representatives from local government, Metro Vancouver, and the Province of British Columbia.
Gathering storytellers
To generate meaningful dialogue a mix of citizens, experts, and government representatives would be brought together to ensure the exchange, capture, and uptake of recommendations and ideas occur. In order to spark stakeholder interest direct mail, print, radio, online media, and local television would be used to engage citizens, businesses, crown corporations, NGOs, and first nations to participate in storytelling events.
Technical information & learning
At storytelling events technical information about the impacts of sea level rise and possible solutions would be workshopped with stakeholders. Information would be made available as current and historical photographs, videos, maps, GIS, and art to appeal to a wide range of citizens and businesses. This information would be accessible through social media, the web, and public art. Technical information would be visual, concise, and specific. Information would assembled and catalogued online onto a website dedicated to the storytelling exercise.
Telling stories
Stakeholders would be invited to tell stories about their community with a focus on history, current use, and future use within the context of sea level rise. Some storytelling would take place in front of a live audience and some via digital media, e.g. YouTube and instagram. Through storytelling regional and neighbourhood level experiences and values would be identified.
After defining expectations, values, and potential adaptation solutions technical experts and participants would workshop adaptation solutions further. After this experience participants would be asked to retell their story from the point where adaptation would be triggered through to the implementation of solutions and corresponding benefits.
This second phase of storytelling would result in the conceptual design of an adaptation plan. Stories would be more refined and detailed as storytellers explore a variety of adaptation solutions, priorities, and tradeoffs. As with much of the process, in the end stories would be transposed into sketches, maps, documents, action items, and policy frameworks.