Getting to ground: integrating community-driven climate adaptation into Washington’s Floodplain by Design and Shoreline Master Programs.
Presentation Abstract
Over the past few years, state and federal agencies, and communities, have accelerated efforts to adapt to impacts from a changing climate; projects collectively termed as “climate adaptation.” While planners and researchers have developed numerous climate change vulnerability assessments and climate adaptation plans, few concrete examples exist of decisions and on-the-ground action that address impacts of climate change. Working with communities throughout Washington, The Nature Conservancy connects local decision makers with the research community to catalyze on-the-ground adaptation. In this talk, we will highlight examples of our engagement through the Floodplains by Design and Shoreline Master Programs. Floodplains by Design is a public-private partnership working to reduce flood risk and improve community resilience in Puget Sound’s coastal floodplains communities. The program is catalyzing local adaptation actions through supporting inclusive reach scale planning and bringing available climate science into project designs. For the Pacific County example, we will describe the essential role of connecting the dots between the science and mapping of coastal vulnerability, to outreach and policy analysis - all ingredients for project success. Across the two projects, we will synthesize our insights about key elements and hurdles for creating effective conduits to move climate adaptation beyond planning and into action. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to responding to climate change. It is critical to understand the social and ecological context of each place, so that climate information can be tailored to address the specific needs of stakeholders and decision-makers.
Session Title
Toward Coordinated Resilience Planning Where People and Ecosystems are Being Squeezed by Climate Change
Conference Track
Protection, Remediation and Restoration
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Shore protection--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Shorelines--Washington (State)--Puget Sound; Coastal zone management--Washington (State)--Puget Sound
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Puget Sound (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Getting to ground: integrating community-driven climate adaptation into Washington’s Floodplain by Design and Shoreline Master Programs.
2016SSEC
Over the past few years, state and federal agencies, and communities, have accelerated efforts to adapt to impacts from a changing climate; projects collectively termed as “climate adaptation.” While planners and researchers have developed numerous climate change vulnerability assessments and climate adaptation plans, few concrete examples exist of decisions and on-the-ground action that address impacts of climate change. Working with communities throughout Washington, The Nature Conservancy connects local decision makers with the research community to catalyze on-the-ground adaptation. In this talk, we will highlight examples of our engagement through the Floodplains by Design and Shoreline Master Programs. Floodplains by Design is a public-private partnership working to reduce flood risk and improve community resilience in Puget Sound’s coastal floodplains communities. The program is catalyzing local adaptation actions through supporting inclusive reach scale planning and bringing available climate science into project designs. For the Pacific County example, we will describe the essential role of connecting the dots between the science and mapping of coastal vulnerability, to outreach and policy analysis - all ingredients for project success. Across the two projects, we will synthesize our insights about key elements and hurdles for creating effective conduits to move climate adaptation beyond planning and into action. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to responding to climate change. It is critical to understand the social and ecological context of each place, so that climate information can be tailored to address the specific needs of stakeholders and decision-makers.
