Key Priorities and University Roles to Address Coastal Resilience in Virginia: Findings from the Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Fall 2018

From Part 1. Purpose and significance The first Rotating Resilience Roundtables event took place on October 11 and 12, 2018 on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg and was co-organized between the Coastal@VT initiative at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University/Virginia Sea Grant Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program. It was designed to respond to the need for a cohesive and policy-relevant science that will align and coordinate efforts between researchers and other stakeholders to benefit the Commonwealth’s resilience planning for changing conditions in coastal zone. The Rotating Roundtables’ concept was selected to facilitate active engagement of audiences with different coastal themes, as well as to stimulate problem identification, critical thinking, and alignment between the real-time issues and research questions

Approaches to Communicating Flooding Information in Hampton Roads: Results From Surveys of Local Government Staff

The objectives of this report are to identify current communication strategies regarding coastal flooding and present opportunities for improvement and collaboration within the Hampton Roads region. The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission partnered with Old Dominion University to design two surveys of local government staff, the first regarding flooding outreach and the second regarding flooding notification methods. This report summarizes the results of each survey and synthesizes challenges described by respondents. Opportunities and resources, including local initiatives and guides developed by federal agencies and emergency notification providers, are highlighted to assist local government staff in addressing challenges related to flooding outreach and notifications

WATER'S GONNA RISE : SEA-LEVEL RISE RISK PERCEPTION, COMMUNICATION AND POLICY-MAKING IN NORTH CAROLINA

Sea level rise is threatening coastal areas around the world with the loss of land, damage to personal and public property, ecological impacts, displacement of populations, and exacerbated risk associated with severe storm events. While the drivers of accelerated sea-level rise are global, it is at the local and regional levels that the most immediate impacts and responses occur. Planning for sea-level rise adaptation is occurring throughout the United States, but significant barriers exist, especially in places where political tensions concerning climate change science prevail. Observation of how people understand and perceive sea-level rise risk, comprehend information about their risk, and enter into processes to manage risk can provide us with better understanding of how risk can be socially amplified or attenuated, and strategies to overcome barriers to adaptation planning. To this end, this three-part dissertation investigates sea-level rise risk at multiple scales with the objective of characterizing the social dimensions of risk production and barriers to adaptation policy in northeastern North Carolina, a region with one of the largest areas of low-lying land threatened by sea-level rise in the United States, and with high social vulnerability to natural hazards among some resident populations. The first part investigates individual risk perception using an audience-driven, document evaluation methodology that assesses reader attention, comprehension, and attitudes. Comprehension difficulties confounded concern about sea-level rise hazard yielding fear, skepticism, and fatalism. The second part examines hegemonic discourses of mistrust and fear that provide insight into barriers to adaptation planning and risk reduction efforts. Fatalistic risk perceptions and risk communication scarcity increase risk in the coastal hazardscape, especially among those with the highest social vulnerability. The lack of risk information and predominant risk perceptions reinforce uneven patterns of risk developed through the marginalization of poor populations and facilitation of land use by those with social and political advantages. The third part is a case study exploration of a public participation process that a local municipality used to confront the barriers to adaptation planning. The study enables an understanding of how mainstreaming can overcome political hurdles, and how bridging organizations help move low-capacity communities past resource limitations. The multi-scalar, risk perception-oriented approach to the examination of sea-level rise risk and policy development may provide further guidance for the study of other complex, politically- charged risks within local contexts.  Ph.D

Living Shorelines: Barriers and Promotion: Accomack County, VA

Living shorelines can offer shoreline protection for low energy shorelines as well as providing ecoservices such as purifying water, buffering against floods, and attracting wildlife. This report highlights key benefits, possible barriers and solutions, and ideas for their promotion. Recommendations for implementing living shorelines are included for Accomack County, Virginia to aid in increasing awareness and utilization of living shorelines

Mechanisms for Cross-Scaling, Flexibility and Social Learning in Building Resilience to Sea Level Rise: Case Study of Hampton Roads, Virginia

This case study examines how the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project, a whole-of-government and whole-of-community approach to planning for and adapting to sea level rise, addressed coastal resilience in a southeastern Virginia watershed that spans multiple jurisdictions. Meeting the challenge of sea level rise requires that actors across multiple sectors—citizens, community organizations, industry and government—understand the risks and work together to make critical decisions regarding adaptation strategies and actions. The case study area includes Little Creek Amphibious Base, which is bordered by the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Adaptation responses to sea level rise by the military base and the local governments will impact each other and the residents of the area, but no cooperative agreements are in place for a joint or collaborative response. This case study examines public and private infrastructure at risk, the infrastructure interdependencies, and mechanisms for providing collaborative solutions. Engagement of area residents and other stakeholders is also integral to the process of adaptation, which includes educating about sea level rise risk and provides a mechanism for social learning that enables stakeholders to participate in critical adaptation decisions. The case study demonstrates a method to improve resiliency in the case study area and inform a regional, multi-sectoral response to sea level rise adaptation strategies

Circulation, Vol. 23, No. 2

Spring 2018 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring article Connecting Science to Stakeholders for Community Resilience by Michelle Covi.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ccpo_circulation/1049/thumbnail.jp

Hampton Roads Resilient Region Reality Check: Increasing Community Resilience and Capacity to Adapt to Changes

The Hampton Roads Resilient Region Reality Check event was held on March 17, 2015 at Old Dominion University. The event was built on three key themes: a region-wide, multi-sectoral, and whole-of-community approach that is oriented toward actions to address SLR and flooding. This event was a collaboration between the Urban Land Institute Hampton Roads (HRULI), Old Dominion University (ODU), and the Community Engagement Working Group of the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project. The overall goals of the event were to (1) capture the perceptions of the Hampton Roads community on their risks associated with sea level rise, (2) engage stakeholders in discussion within and across different stakeholder groups; and (3) assess the willingness, at a regional level, to address SLR-related issues and prepare for the coming changes. Approximately 130 residents and stakeholders across government, non-profit, business, and civil society sectors within the Hampton Roads region participated in the event. The event focused on encouraging discussion concerning three items: (1) how flooding affects citizens, (2) what can citizens do about flooding, and (3) what resources are needed to address flooding? For each question, participants were also asked to discuss and identify two regional priorities

User Preferences for Flood Alerts (Risk Communication and Public Engagement in Sea Level Rise Resilience Research Series, Paper No. 2)

Working with faculty and staff from Old Dominion University’s Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography, we developed a “straw man” website for users to sign up to receive flood alerts. The flood alert is based on tidal projections for the Sewell’s Point tide gauge available from the National Weather Service through the meteorological development laboratory (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/etsurge/index.php) and sends alerts for projected water level. We recruited study participants for one-on-one interviews. Participants were asked to interact with the flood alert signup interface and respond to specific questions about their preferences for flood alerts. We used findings of the one-on-one interviews to create profiles of flood alert users that could be used to inform development of flood alert systems and other flood communication tools