Panel Discussion

Various short-term and long-term hazards (i.e., environmental, health, social, economic, political) plague coastal, riparian, and estuarine habitats and populations, especially vis-à-vis climatic- and fossil-energy associated threats such as spills, hurricanes, flooding, and erosion. We propose a cross-cutting session exploring the roles that various sectors (e.g. land use, climate change, built environment and environmental justice) will need to play in order to take a systems approach to building community resilience to the health effects of climatic events. How will federal planning initiatives such as the U.S. EPA’s Smart Growth program interface with local vulnerability assessments and site-specific building design decisions? What role will community-based organizations play in galvanizing action to enhance built environment resilience in underserved neighborhoods? Panel speakers will answer these questions using historic cases showing the built environment’s mixed record of resilience to climatic events (Gulf Coast), ongoing efforts on the highly developed Atlantic seaboard, and proposals since Super storm Sandy that are impacting the rebuilding of the already climate- and energy conscious Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Session Objectives: Describe how communities engage in the climate resilient planning process. Articulate the different perspectives, objectives and roles that the private sector, urban planners, public health practitioners and communities may have around increasing climate resiliency of our coastal areas. Explain various strategies to plan for and build healthy climate resiliency communities. Articulate how the conference theme “Think Global, Act Local” plays out on the ground in communities that are working to build resilience to climate change, particularly among vulnerable populations.