Introducing “Building Resilient States: Profiles in Action”

 

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Communities shouldn’t wait for a flood or a hurricane to see how land use choices will affect their ability to remain resilient in the face of disaster.

Many states and municipalities are already thinking strategically about how land use, transportation, and infrastructure decisions can help them prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters. A brand new resource profiles some of the nation’s best examples of these ideas at work.

Building Resilient States: Profiles in Action, a new resource released today, highlights local, regional, and statewide efforts to build more resilient communities from the ground up. The report was produced by the Governors’ Institute on Community Design, a program run in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Smart Growth America.

Profiles in Action looks at examples in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon, focusing on each of the seven steps in our resilience Framework:

  1. Put someone in charge
  2. Seek the advice and expertise of partners outside state government
  3. Integrate future risks into a state Hazard Mitigation Plan and land use policy
  4. Ensure that state investments do not increase vulnerability
  5. Develop strategies to address assets that are already in high-risk areas
  6. Help communities become more resilient
  7. Develop a process for monitoring, measuring, and reporting on progress

The Framework was originally released in October, 2015 in Building Resilient States: A Framework for Agencies. That report was an introduction to integrating land use and transportation issues into states’ conversations about resilience. Profiles in Action, a companion to that report, more deeply explores the advice provided in the Framework and shows how some states are putting these ideas into action.

Join the kickoff webinar to learn more

Want to know more about states’ strategies for disaster resilient land use? Join us for the kickoff discussion about this resource on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 from 1:00-2:00 pm EDT.

Join the conversation to hear from disaster preparedness professionals including Iain Hyde, Deputy Director of the Colorado Resiliency and Recovery Office; Mark Lowery, Climate Policy Analyst at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Climate Change; Rebecca French, Director of Community Engagement at the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation; and Jeannette Dubinin, Director of Coastal Program for the Center for Planning Excellence in Louisiana.

Together our panelists will share their insights into ways that states and governors can plan for long-term resilience to natural disasters and adapt to a changing environment, and build more resilient communities from the ground up.

Download the new resource, and we hope you’ll join us for the kickoff webinar next week.

Resilience