Janette Bessembinder
You can collect vast amounts of climate data and create beautiful tables, but are they truly understood? As a lecturer in Climate Literacy at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a climate services advisor at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Janette Bessembinder reflects on the best way to present the data.
"Personal stories bring the data closer to home."
What are you researching?
I am researching whether professionals, such as researchers and policymakers, use climate change data in an effective way. In short, their climate literacy. Do they understand the data we provide at the KNMI, and how can we present it in a way that is useful to them? Not everyone needs to know everything, as long as they understand what is relevant to them and where they can find reliable information if their knowledge falls short.
How did you come to this subject?
I have worked extensively on interdisciplinary projects and noticed that some concepts meant slightly different things to different people, or that various disciplines used different terms for the same concept. I delved into this communication challenge and eventually joined the KNMI as a climate services advisor.
How does your research look?
We present the data to professionals and test what they take away from it, whether it resonates with them, and what they plan to do with it. For example, we experimented in the municipality of Amsterdam by adding personal stories to the tables and graphs on climate change, such as a hotel owner with a green roof and a neighbourhood initiative to combat waterlogging. We thought this might make the KNMI seem less objective, but it actually proved to be appreciated that we provided concrete examples and showed we were thinking along. As a result, we later added 11 examples to the brochure on climate scenarios for professionals, showing how organisations such as the RIVM, Rijkswaterstaat, and the energy sector use our data.
Why is your research important?
Well-communicated data helps make informed decisions. Policymakers need assistance in engaging society and justifying their measures. For example, we are working on a kind of template that they can use to add local information and examples, allowing them to show how climate change personally or directly affects people. Think of family members who experienced the floods in Limburg.
We are often asked for the ‘most likely’ scenario, but I prefer to focus on the ‘most relevant’ scenario. I compare it to traffic. In traffic, you don’t only consider average behaviour; you also account for unusual behaviour. If someone suddenly brakes in front of you, that is relevant. That is what you need to prepare for. The same applies to climate change. This awareness is slowly starting to sink in.
What do you hope to achieve in 5 years?
I hope that, in the future, we will do more to combat climate change and are better prepared for extreme events. At KNMI, we help to get people more engaged by adding more personal stories to our information, and we'll be better at showing what actions people can take in response to weather extremes.
Would you like to read more about the work of the KNMI or Janette Bessembinder?
