Hā o ke kai literally means the breath of the sea, and more poetically, that we are one with the ocean, and go where it takes us—in this case, towards pioneering a response to climate change challenges that lie before us in Hawaii.  This conference addresses what it will take to make Hawaii “climate ready” and the role of the State, its Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, and its many partners.

Just as equity set the tone of the 2019 conference, the 2020 conference aims to emphasize the communications aspect of climate change. Climate change communication is a bottleneck for climate change action. There are some key messages that need to be delivered—information about the very local effects of climate change, and about the choices and decisions that need to be made—in order to move forward.

Hā o ke kai 2020 aims to investigate the role of communication in furthering climate action. Day 1 will host a high-profile keynote, a response, and two panels that will highlight the work being done in Hawaii and bring lessons from other states and cities.  Day 2 will feature “lightning talks” by researchers working on cutting edge climate change issues, and the afternoon will bring workshops led by media and science professionals to help organizations finetune climate change messages. Policy makers and legislators, science and non-science climate communicators, generally interested citizenry, and climate change researchers will all find something here of value to their work.

Hā o ke kai–let’s use this conference to innovate together for a Climate Ready Hawaii!