Dear Tampa Bay: Creating and Leveraging a Climate Resilience Documentary Film Using Story-Telling for Citizen Engagement.

Increasing the climate literacy of local leaders in the Tampa Bay region is critical if the area is to successfully face the rising challenges of the climate crisis. One of the most vulnerable areas in the world, the Tampa Bay region is often considered ill-prepared to cope with rising sea levels, threats of extreme rainfall, flooding and intense hurricanes, and the potentially deadly impact of recording breaking heat. This project produced a documentary film to increase awareness and understanding of the area's coastal climate related risks and solutions, and boost confidence and motivation to act among regional community members. We assess the impact of the film, which uses a storytelling format and strong visual messaging, on over 250 local community members' understanding of risk, knowledge of appropriate resilience strategies, and empowerment to act. Qualitative analysis of pre-film and post-film surveys reveals the strong impact of the storytelling portions of the film on fact retention, feelings of urgency and the willingness to work with others to promote local resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]