Session #4 | Messaging & Media
Showcase Speaker: Jeff Goodell | Author, Investigative Journalist, and Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
Case Study: Resilient Rural Landscapes & Communities: A Collaborator’s Toolbox
Case Study: Show and Tell: Annapolis Uses Story Map to Illustrate Flood Risks
Showcase Speaker: Jeff Goodell | Author, Investigative Journalist, and Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Reshaping of the Civilized World
Case Study: Resilient Rural Landscapes & Communities: A Collaborator’s Toolbox
Across the country, 284 rural coastal counties are vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate and sea level rise. Despite a proximity to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, the iconic landscape of Maryland’s Eastern Shore has remained rural and its communities are firmly rooted in the agricultural and maritime trades. ESLC’s commitment to preserving and sustaining vibrant, historic communities includes helping them become resilient and adaptable in the face of climate risks.
Our approach has relied on tapping local knowledge, building collaborative partnerships, and giving voice to the region’s local governments and stakeholders. This presentation focuses on two significant efforts to address climate adaptation in our rural communities. First, we describe a ‘participatory’ climate vulnerability assessment in Kent County. This model facilitates a local mastery of climate risks and stakeholder-generated solutions. Staff from Kent County will share the benefits of this process and the how the solutions are being implemented. Second, we showcase the Eastern Shore Climate Adaptation Partnership, a multijurisdictional ‘climate collaborative’ that accelerates regional climate preparedness across this capacity-constrained region. The Partnership consists of staff from seven local governments and a constellation of state agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofits. We explore the benefits of regional collaboration for rural areas as well as the lessons learned in getting the Partnership off the ground.
- Brian Ambrette | Coastal Resilience Program Manager, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
- Stephanie Jones | Kent County Department of Planning
Case Study: Show and Tell: Annapolis Uses Story Map to Illustrate Flood Risks
Annapolis, Maryland needed a platform for residents and stakeholders to intuitively comprehend and visualize the city’s efforts to mitigate flood risk. The city also wanted to highlight the nation’s first Cultural Resources Hazard Mitigation Plan. The result was a Story Map. A story map is an ESRI ArcGIS online application that incorporates multiple media types including interactive maps, participatory GIS, photo crowdsourcing to illustrate and describe topics in a visual narrative. Story maps are an excellent way to increase local awareness of current and future flood risk and interpret, prioritize, integrate, and implement solutions that reduce risk to enhance community resilience. The City’s Weather It Together team collaborated with the Planning Innovation Lab of Michael Baker International to develop an interactive resource that highlights the city’s efforts to address the local impacts of climate change on cultural resources through proactive hazard mitigation planning. The story map entitled Landmark at Risk: Protecting the Historic Seaport of Annapolis, Maryland hopes to become the go-to resource, not only for the citizens of Annapolis, but for other communities facing the challenges of climate change.
- Bradley Dean, CFM, CE | Coastal Scientist, Michael Baker International
- Shawn Wampler, GISP | GIS Coordinator City of Annapolis Information Technology Office