DCTC tests Smart Paint at PSU allowing visually-impaired users to better safely navigate streets.
Portland State University’s Digital City Testbed Center (DCTC) recently received a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s “Smart and Connected Communities” program to explore why diverse communities — including people with disabilities, people with low income and BIPOC communities — are often hesitant to make use of digital technologies that could better prepare them for negative impacts of climate change.
“The analogy that we've been drawing is with the COVID-19 vaccine, you have this miraculous technology, but it's not able to realize its potential because so many people have concerns about it and are reluctant to use it,” said Jonathan Fink, DCTC director. “We would say there's a similar issue in terms of climate change, particularly in cities where there are technologies that can help mitigate some of the effects.”
As with COVID-19 mitigation, climate change mitigation depends as much on societal behavior change as it does on innovation in technologies.
Fink added that both the impacts and public awareness of climate change threats in cities are growing rapidly, but large numbers of people, including those who are most at risk from climate impacts, do not or cannot take protective measures.
Motivated by recent extreme climate events in the Pacific Northwest, DCTC’s initial focus is on technologies that analyze and mitigate the severity and effects of urban heat, smoke and wildfire.
“New technologies developed by large tech firms and startup companies can help people anticipate and deal with climate-related extreme weather events in a variety of ways, including, for example, improving air quality inside homes during wildfire events,” he said. “However, many groups in cities lack access to these lifesaving innovations, don’t know about them, and/or distrust the government agencies and companies who provide them.”
Molly Baer Kramer, project manager with DCTC, added that the proposed work not only looks at what it would take for these diverse communities to utilize helpful technology, but seeks to understand the resistance to adopting these interventions.
“We're not just finding out how to overcome these fears but also to understand them,” she said. “Such fears can result from a lack of knowledge because no one has reached out to these communities specifically. Or, it may be due to negative experiences with technology companies that don’t employ frontline communities in the development of technologies theoretically designed to assist them.”
Through this grant, DCTC will be able to work more closely with community partners, such as Portland’s BIPOC-led consulting group We All Rise, to better engage community members in dialogue on how best to help their communities prepare for climate change impacts.
The NSF planning grant allows DCTC to work with local community groups, city governments, and other academic partners in their five testbed locations in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. The planning grant work began Oct. 1 and will continue for the next year, during which DCTC will apply for an additional NSF grant to begin testing and implementing expanded versions of their pilot projects.