The Wildlands-Urban Interface Climate Action Network (WUICAN) is a collaboration between a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of California, Irvine, UC Riverside and UC San Diego, in partnership with tribes, community groups and land managers to address the climate crisis. Through a $5.5 million grant from the UC Office of the President, WUICAN funds community leaders in assessing needs for climate action and designing appropriate responses in partnership with policy experts. By leveraging innovative climate research, land stewardship and educational projects, WUICAN is generating science-based and community-driven best practices for dealing with climate risks with the goal of creating knowledge and climate solutions that ensure a resilient relationship between society and wild landscapes.
Who we are: WUICAN (pronounced “we can”) stands for the wildland-urban interface climate action network. We focus on the wildlife-urban interface because most of California’s population lives on or near it, where climate change contributes to more frequent and intense wildfires, droughts, and floods. Our network is generating community-driven climate action policies and procedures that will guide climate action locally, statewide, and nationally.
Our goal: We aim to develop, in partnership with university, tribal, and community partners, a new model of co-governance for land stewardship and climate action policies. WUICAN produces science-based and community-driven best practices for dealing with climate risks. As part of this new model, we are working collaboratively to build capacities for collaboration across all partners and those they serve. This involves significant training activities–for students (K-12 through postdoctoral and across all levels of the university), community partners, and other researchers.
Collaborative research: Research co-design and partnership is at the center of WUICAN, and our unique network includes experts from environmental science, the humanities, law, and social sciences from the University of California, Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Riverside. Additionally, there are 11 different community partners including Tribal leaders, land managers, local city governments, and an interfaith working group. Learn more about our partners here.
WUICAN acknowledges our presence on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Acjachemen and Tongva Peoples, who still hold strong cultural, spiritual, and physical ties to this region.
Contact:
Research Justice Shop
researchjustice@uci.edu
researchjustice[at]uci[dot]edu
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