Abstract
The internship report titled "Creating a Framework for Social Impact Assessments for Interdisciplinary Climate Conferences" by Kirtana Krishna Kumar explores the development of a structured framework to assess the social impacts of climate conferences organized by the Climate Resilience Institute (CRI) at the University of Miami. Recognizing the critical role of interdisciplinary conferences in advancing climate solutions, the report emphasizes the need to go beyond traditional metrics like attendance to capture long-term and meaningful impacts.
The framework, informed by the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) standards, is based on a logical chain model with phases for preparation, execution, and evaluation. Key elements include defining conference goals, profiling attendees, creating surveys to assess knowledge transfer, behavioral changes, and collaborative outcomes, and visualizing data for actionable insights. Surveys were meticulously designed using insights from over 25 journal articles, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative metrics to measure professional backgrounds, engagement levels, and interdisciplinary impacts.
Profiling exercises demonstrated the utility of mapping academic expertise to identify interdisciplinary connections, guiding future conference strategies. Outputs such as reference tables and survey templates are intended to aid organizers in designing impactful events. The framework prioritizes inclusivity, addressing the needs of diverse stakeholders and marginalized groups, and aims to enhance both immediate and sustained impacts of climate conferences.
Challenges highlighted in the study include effectively integrating social media and virtual platforms and improving quantitative methods for representing intersectionality and interdisciplinary. Future research is recommended to refine these aspects and adapt the framework to evolving climate and communication landscapes.
This report underscores the importance of social impact assessments as a tool for fostering meaningful partnerships, advancing climate resilience, and achieving global climate goals. It provides a replicable model for assessing and enhancing the efficacy of interdisciplinary conferences, bridging gaps between policy, research, and community engagement.