Job Description – Key Responsibilities and Tasks

Developing and further embedding the ‘Act to Adapt’ process, through our ‘Adapting Somerset’ and ‘Somerset’s Wilder Coast’ projects to support communities and to develop plans to adapt their local areas to the impacts of climate change.

Responsibility 1: Providing leadership and technical expertise

Being proactive and nurture strong relationships by:

• Providing leadership on SWT Climate Change Nature Adaptation work.   
• Working closely with the Local Nature Partnership Coordinator and Advocacy Manager, and wider project team from partner organisations, to develop and deliver a programme of online and in-person communications, meetings and workshops. This is designed to foster climate change adaptation in the county supporting nature’s recovery and community resilience, and therefore involves working closely with farmers and landowners, all layers of local council, infrastructure experts, academics and the general public, including communities already impacted by flooding.
• Providing line management to the Climate Adaptation Assistant.
• Continuing developing the RAD approach for priority habitats, alongside the Landscape Recovery team, which will contribute to managing land within internationally important wetlands.
• Keeping abreast of national and international climate change developments and relate these to Somerset.

Responsibility 2: Engagement with Communities and Creating Robust Partnerships

Lead engagement efforts by:

• Contributing to discussions and workstreams developing climate change adaptation pathways at a county level, and in specific local areas relating to flooding, drought and wildfire.
• Developing information for a lay audience regarding the role of nature in reducing the impacts of climate change, including: sea-level rise; predicted changes in land use; warming, etc. and to help people understand what the future may bring especially in Somerset’s more vulnerable nature habitats.
• Supporting people’s wider understanding of the role of nature to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and storage.
• Continuing the rollout of the Act to Adapt process in local communities, organising events and workshops and using the Climate Adaptation Toolkit to explain the process of developing community and nature based solutions to the big issues of climate change.

Responsibility 3: Developing sustainable projects and evaluation

Lead and support projects and reporting by:

• Working with the Somerset Local Nature Recovery Strategy team to incorporate climate adaptation and vulnerability principles to these priorities.
• Assisting with work to share information and project developments with project partners in the UK.
• Developing and implement a communications plan that raises awareness of the project and its impact; garners support; and highlights Somerset as a place at the frontline for climate change. This will include engagement through social media and the production of awareness materials in printed and online formats.
• Managing the budget of the Adapting Somerset project and keep track of time contributions to the ELM’s Landscape Recovery and Somerset’s Wilder Coast projects.
• Monitoring and evaluating progress and impact, meeting project milestones and reporting to funders.
• Representing SWT externally in meetings, in the media and by giving presentations to various audiences.