Met Office x Làn Thìde: Storm Stories

Invitation to residents of the Western Isles – help us connect your experiences with climate science!

 

We would love to hear your stories, observations and thoughts about how you and your place experience winter storms and stormy weather, and how this might be changing.

 

Làn Thìde, a collective of arts, heritage, environment and third sector organisations, is working to inspire public engagement and positive action to help the islands adapt to the impacts of climate change while celebrating their unique natural and cultural heritage.

 

We are embarking on an art project with Lewis based artist Sandra Kennedy, which will combine local people’s lived experiences of stormy weather with Met Office analysis of how winter storms are likely to change in future. This will be developed into a climate Storyline for the Outer Hebrides, and used to help us thinking about climate change and how it will affect our islands and communities.

 

If you would like to share a story about any storms or stormy weather you have experienced in the Outer Hebrides, then we would love to hear from you!

 

If you work in fishing or crofting please contact us directly as we are particularly interested in hearing about your experience. If you would like to be involved but can’t make the online discussions, please contact us via the email below and we can set up and individual call or visit. If you prefer to share stories in Gaelic that would be most welcome -please let us know!

 

Upcoming workshops:

Wednesday 23rd @ 8:00pm

English sharing event 

Thursday 24th @ 8.00pm

Gaelic sharing event

 

Can’t attend one of our workshops? We’d still love to hear from you:

🌍 🌍 🌍

 

Tell us your story on the Làn Thìde website: https://lanthide.org

Emailing us on Stormstories2022@outlook.com

Via our Postcard in the Western Isles Mobile Library service

 

The Outer Hebrides Climate Storyline project originated from a collaboration between the Adaptation Scotland programme1 and the Met Office in producing a Scottish summary of the UK Climate Projections (UKCP). Adaptation Scotland and the Met Office discussed the potential for developing bespoke community narratives which connect climate science to local lived experience – referred to as Storylines. Adaptation Scotland was already working with the Climate Change Working Group to develop its approach to climate change adaptation and, following discussion with the group, agreed that the first set of Storylines to be developed in Scotland should focus on the Outer Hebrides. The Met Office has since worked with the CCWG to produce a report which will form the scientific element of the Storyline. The report analyses historical local weather data and uses UKCP to determine how the frequency and intensity of winter storm events in the Outer Hebrides are likely to change in future under low and high climate emission scenarios through the 21st Century (see Headline Messages document attached to this brief). An artistic partner will then gather community stories of the impacts of these types of storm events, and produce and present a creative Storyline piece. This will communicate both the scientific findings and local experiences in an accessible, impactful and memorable way and can form the basis of an evolving story of an adapting Outer Hebrides which can be used to motivate organisations/ individuals to commit to action.

Sandra was brought up in Marvig, Lewis and came back to live here after completing her studies. Her formal art education was at Grays School of Art, Aberdeen and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design London. Her work is inspired by places, which in her imagination hold a memory or possibilities for a story. Sandra has strong bonds with the island; especially Marvig an area small in size yet an endless source for exploration both physically and through its history and the Gaelic language. She adapts her practice according to circumstance or opportunity and has worked within many disciplines. Central to her work as an artist is the desire to share skills and ideas through workshops.

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