IMPACTS OF CLIMATE LANGUAGE ON RURAL MAINE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE INITIATIVES

Language about climate change may create barriers for communities seeking to engage in resilience initiatives, and these barriers can be especially pronounced for rural and Indigenous communities. Rural and Indigenous communities are sometimes referred to as ‘underserved communities’ in government discourse, which are defined as populations and geographic areas that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, including people of color, low income, rural, Tribal, Indigenous, and other populations that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental harms and risks. Language like ‘climate change and ‘government funding’ can bring local resilience projects to a halt, especially when outsiders do not engage with communities through respectful processes. This study analyzes the barriers and opportunities of climate language in rural Maine communities and Wabanaki Tribes. It also examines how iterative co-production of research and equitable relationships can support successful resilience initiatives. This study uses three methods: (1) A literature review of peer-reviewed publications about place-centered climate knowledge and equitable research methodology, which is compared to (2) interview data from Maine community leaders who engage with resilience projects and issues at the local level, and (3) data from a survey co-developed with representatives from Maine communities and Wabanaki tribes to understand citizen perceptions and preferences regarding of energy and climate resilience. Community participation in this study finds that trusting relationships with institutions can help rural and Indigenous communities talk about climate change and center local needs in resilience projects. Literature review results support this finding and establish community-based participatory research (CBPR) as a methodology that iteratively engages with community members as equal partners in resilience projects. However, rural populations of Maine and Wabanaki Tribes continue to be underrepresented in current research, which does not sufficiently address nuanced local contexts. Following CBPR best practices, I shared the results from this study with community partners who co-developed the survey and incorporated their feedback into the manuscript during the revision period.