Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our planet, affecting our environment, economy, communities and wellbeing. Biotext has worked on many national projects focusing on climate change, resilience and adaptation.
Understanding the current and predicted changes associated with an altered climate can help us to plan ahead and minimise the impacts. The scientific expertise and experience of the Biotext team ensures that we present accurate climate change concepts across our environmental content and communications.
Our role:
|
|
Climate Risk Ready NSW, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Biotext provided strategic content advice to help NSW DCCEEW convert technical climate risk management guidance into a user-friendly web format. This included designing mock webpages to show navigation and content features, writing and editing web content for accessibility, readability and tone, and refining content production workflows and governance processes for collaborative content development with subject matter experts. We helped the client present this guidance and recommended next steps in a slide deck to share with their stakeholders and delegates to support their involvement in the program.
Working with the Biotext team has been exceptional. [Their] expertise in strategic thinking, program management, and identifying key risks and opportunities—combined with skill and efficiency in translating complex concepts into clear, engaging written and visual content—has been critical to the program’s success. For the complex government projects we work on, it’s rare to find such a valuable mix of skills, deep expertise, and the ability to work in an agile, open, and highly effective way.
NSW DCCEEW client
ADAPT NSW website, NSW Treasury Office of Energy and Climate Change
Since 2021, Biotext has worked with the NSW Government to update and rewrite the ADAPT NSW website, which is designed to provide information about the likely effects of climate change in New South Wales, and to help state and local governments and communities to take action.
You were all so fantastic to work with – and such a huge part of this incredible collaborative project – so congratulations!
AdaptNSW client on the website’s launch
We assisted with information architecture, wrote new content from existing pages and research, and edited pages to meet audience needs and ensure clarity and consistency. Throughout this project, we worked with subject matter experts to write webpages that clearly explain complex concepts, including the Earth science behind climate change, and the scientific approach to measuring, understanding and modelling future climate changes.
Our collaborative approach and expertise in science communication allowed us to quickly identify and fill gaps in the content. This resulted in a suite of webpages that effectively explain complex information in plain English, to meet the needs of nontechnical audiences and key stakeholders.
In 2023, we expanded on this work to develop a new area of the website to address the needs of land and sea managers. We interviewed stakeholders to understand what types of information land and sea managers need to help them adapt to climate change. We analysed the findings alongside an audit of existing content on the AdaptNSW website and related sites to propose a logical information architecture to help land and sea managers quickly find the information they need. We then created a common page structure for a consistent experience, and drafted content based on published information.
Guidance on using climate data in water sharing plans, NSW DCCEEW
NSW DCCEEW aims to ensure that climate change risks are carefully considered in water planning and future management. To ensure that planners within the department could follow clear, consistent processes, we conducted workshops to identify user needs, then worked with the department team to develop detailed guidance on climate data and models to be used. We also developed infographics to capture decision pathways and key concepts.
Human-induced regeneration method, Clean Energy Regulator
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) administers schemes to measure, manage, reduce and offset carbon emissions in Australia. Biotext helped the CER to prepare a public-facing paper on a complex carbon crediting method, to support public confidence in the integrity and effectivenesss of the method.
The human-induced regeneration (HIR) method is used by eligible landholders to capture and store carbon on their properties by allowing native vegetation to regenerate. This paper explained how the HIR method works and how it is implemented by the CER to ensure that carbon credits are only issued for regeneration that occurs because of the method. We worked closely with the CER team to rewrite the draft paper in a way that clearly explained the complex HIR method through text and visuals, including graphs of forecasted carbon sequestration and crediting, and conceptual diagrams of the HIR method. The paper was published on the CER website and resulted in positive media coverage.
As part of the project, we also provided strategic content guidance to help the team write similar papers that explain technical concepts to general audiences. This included running a 2-hour workshop with their staff and developing a bespoke document of guidance, tips and examples for their reference.
Our experience with Biotext was excellent. [They] understood our requirements, worked flexibly with our agency where needed and delivered the outcome we were hoping for. [What I value most about Biotext is] Experience and ideas. Calmness under pressure. Productivity.
CER client
NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling (NARCliM), NSW Treasury Office of Energy and Climate Change
NARCliM produces trusted fine-scale climate projections for south-eastern Australia. Part of the NSW Government’s response to climate change is to increase the use of climate projections in planning and decision making.
Biotext conducted a series of workshops with internal staff and project stakeholders, and interviews with end users of NARCliM data, to understand the goals, value and user needs associated with NARCliM climate data. After assessing user needs and data capability, we proposed a strategic shift in the project to meet the needs of both the NARCliM technical team and end users. This resulted in the development of 5 defined user groups to help the department be more targeted in its communication and content development. We also developed case studies of end-user applications of NARCliM data; an expanded user guide to capture the full ‘NARCliM story’; and detailed publishing guidance including a new information architecture and content plan to help the department to publish relevant content across its different websites.
Biotext was selected to support the NSW Government’s delivery of a suite of communication products that raise awareness of regional climate projections across the state. They approached the task with professionalism and sophisticated expertise. The team was thorough in their delivery of each of the project milestones, and maintained open and proactive communications to ensure the work stayed on track throughout the project.
NARCliM client
Coast Adapt, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF)
NCCARF played an important role in educating councils and communities, especially in coastal regions, about adapting to climate change. They wanted to produce a series of infographics that would help to communicate their key messages. We worked with the facility to develop a series of CoastAdapt infographics, including:
- why we need to adapt to climate change
- what we need to think about in adapting to climate change
- processes that shape our coastlines
- the effects of sea level rise
- the options for adapting to sea level rise.
