We have argued that local adaptation is increasingly important, that effectively responding to climate-related risks will require collective action and that the obstacles blocking cities and towns from collectively managing climate change risks are as much social and political as scientific. In light of these facts, we have suggested that advancing climate preparedness and risk management will require enhancing the readiness of communities to act collectively.

Chapter 2 makes the case that enhancing local readiness depends on making climate adaptation an idea in good currency (Schön 1971), and establishing a collective pattern of thinking that supports collective management of climate change-related risks (Norgaard 2011). In other words, it is about priming the pump by fostering a shared understanding of local risks and possible ways of reducing them. In our view, this can only happen when a range of stakeholders are in dialogue with each other. Because managing climate change risks will require ongoing efforts, community dialogue will have to be a sustained effort. People will have to work together and learn together if communities are going to be able to effectively respond to climate-related risks as they unfold.

Effective public dialogue about climate change risks is not just about ensuring that different factions or segments of the community understand each other's viewpoints. It must also create what we refer to as “community literacy” about risks and responses. To create literacy, dialogue must be based around reliable, usable knowledge about local risk and possible responses. To prime the pump for collective risk management, we also need to increase the level of optimism within a community about the prospects of collective risk management, as well as enhance people's capacity to collectively problem-solve.

As we discussed in chapter 3, most traditional forms of public engagement have emphasized getting information out and public reaction back into the hands of elected and appointed officials. These rather modest forms of consultation do not create dialogue and shared learning. Nor are they likely to increase people's sense of collective efficacy and ability to work together to address collective problems. They don't often catalyze collective risk management efforts, because they can't achieve a sufficient level of community readiness. To advance community readiness, different, more interactive forms of public education and engagement are needed.