Localising Climate Action: How LIFE-AR Transformed Community Engagement in Uganda

Communities need more than information to participate. They need trusted messengers, context-sensitive engagement and clear spaces to influence decisions. Uganda LIFE-AR’s communication strategy intentionally worked through district, sub-county and parish structures using facilitators who spoke local languages and understood the social dynamics of each area. Awareness meetings with political and technical leaders helped ensure that messages were coherent, while sub-county dialogues created a link between district planning and grassroots mobilisation.

Two key components were essential for the success of this strategy. First, the engagement at parish level, with meetings with local council leaders (LC), parish chiefs and community development officers (CDOs), provided the groundwork for wider mobilisation. Second, careful scheduling of engagement, considering the local context and priorities like farming seasons, worship days and local routines made participation easier and inclusive.

This approach, anchored in everyday community realities, helped strengthen local ownership and leadership.

To reach diverse audiences, the national and local LIFE-AR teams employed a mix of communication tools, each suited to different contexts and literacy levels (Table 1). Market and road drives used megaphones, music and trusted community figures to catch the attention of residents in high-traffic areas, helping reach low-literacy groups and sparking curiosity about LIFE-AR. Radio emerged as a particularly powerful channel due to its wide rural reach and ability to broadcast in local languages, especially when combined with interactive interviews or Q&A segments with leaders whom communities already trusted. Barazas, or community gatherings, created space for face-to-face dialogue where residents could ask questions, raise concerns and understand how LIFE-AR differed from other programmes. Local leadership structures—including LC leaders, parish chiefs and CDOs—played a pivotal role in reinforcing messages between formal engagements, though their effectiveness varied based on capacity, competing responsibilities and levels of community trust. Meanwhile, WhatsApp groups strengthened vertical coordination between national and district teams, facilitating real-time problem-solving, lesson sharing and alignment of messages across multiple districts.

A key factor behind the success of LIFE-AR Uganda’s mobilisation was its co-creation approach to communication. The national team worked closely with district and sub-county officials and Local Council leaders to shape messages that reflected community values, needs and lived experiences. This joint process ensured that messaging resonated across diverse audiences and built legitimacy, as communities recognised their own priorities and language in the communication materials.

Messages were adapted to different audiences: simple, relatable and grounded in daily realities for community members; more technical for district, sub-county and parish officials who needed clarity on governance roles and mechanisms.

Strong relationships between local leaders and residents further amplified the reach and credibility of these messages, supported by clear guidance and resources from the initiative.

The core messaging was centred around four themes:

1. the reality of climate risks and local impacts;
2. the benefits of community-led adaptation;
3. the importance of inclusive participation with an emphasis on “leaving no one behind”;
4. and the potential for improved livelihoods and healthier ecosystems.

LIFE-AR’s multi-level engagement produced significant results across the four districts.

1. Strengthened district-level ownership: Sensitisation meetings with political and technical leaders promoted vertical integration, clarified roles and identified pilot sub-counties with high vulnerability.
2. Enhanced sub-county coordination: Sub-county meetings bridged planning and parish-level delivery, strengthened local capacity, and ensured the initiative’s messages were relayed through trusted channels.
3. Empowered parish leadership: Parish-level meetings engaged 362 participants—over 80% leaders—who jointly planned mobilisation schedules, integrated gender and social inclusion measures, and reinforced accountability across governance tiers.
4. Robust community mobilisation: Parish and sub-county leaders led a one-week outreach campaign culminating in Parish Climate Change Committee elections, where over 90% of attendees were community members, reflecting high participation, trust in local leadership, and the relevance of LIFE-AR in Uganda.

Experiences from the pilot districts revealed several important insights for strengthening community engagement.

Inclusive communication from the outset helped build legitimacy, especially where women, youth, people with disabilities and the elderly were intentionally involved, making slogans like “leaving no one behind” resonate even in conservative districts. However, persistent disparities in participation—such as low representation of women and limited visibility of people with disabilities—show that structural barriers endure and require targeted approaches, accessible messages and stronger feedback channels.

Tailoring messages to local languages and daily realities made climate information more relatable, particularly at parish level where literacy varies.

Effective coordination across governance tiers enhanced message consistency and reach, while community perceptions were strongly shaped by past development programmes, highlighting the need to manage expectations transparently and strengthen leaders’ communication capacities.

Better disaggregated data on gender, age and disability will further support adaptive, equitable outreach.

Finally, early and continuous engagement with local media can expand visibility and reinforce trusted messaging across communities.