Community-Informed Wildfire Communications, With Isabeau Ottolini

Isabeau Ottolini is one of the foremost experts on imbuing risk communications with values that are informed by communities themselves. As a PhD candidate on community-based communications at the Open University of Catalonia in Spain, Isabeau spends a significant amount of time thinking about how we can best reach those most at risk of wildfire's impacts, while also allowing those folks to inform how we approach them on this subject.The ways we talk about wildfire are often highly localized—and dependent on a number of factors like community values, history and available resources. However, the things that make for successful risk communication are largely universal, with mutual respect being chief among the elements of successful communication. This is a primary point of Isabeau's: that when we are talking to community members about wildfire or other climate risks, embracing a two-way communication approach (rather than top-down, as she calls it) is essential. In other words, ensuring that you're actually listening to the community you're attempting to communicate with.Isabeau is also a current member of PyroLife, which is a PhD training program that supports students across the globe to pursue cross-disciplinary, wildfire-focused research projects. She recently published a paper called "A toolkit for fostering co-creation and participative community engagement with vulnerable communities at risk," where she expands on many of the topics we cover in this episode—we'd highly recommend giving it a read. If you're interested in learning more about our open call for pitches, check out our blog post about it!If you'd like to help us meet our objective to support Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and other creators from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by wildfires, please check out our Patreon.Timestamps: 05:36 - Introduction06:51 - Interest in Wildfires09:05 - Community Collaboration Over Expert Dictation10:36 - Community Experience as Starting Point11:35 - Limitations of Wildfire Communication15:07 - Spain vs. US Wildfire Management and Communications17:43 - Communication as Top Priority18:23 - Leveraging Social Media Platforms19:38 - Tips for the Upcoming Wildfire Season23:09 - Future of Wildfire Prevention Gaps24:50 - Complexity of Wildfire Management Produced by Morgan McRae