This special Marine Technology Society (MTS) Journal issue on resilience features authors presenting various perspectives on the challenges and solutions that we all must face. Many of these perspectives are a follow-up to the recommendations from a 2014–2016 pilot run by Old Dominion University (ODU) that used a whole-of-government/community approach to an integrated regional solution in Hampton Roads. An intergovernmental blueprint for community resiliency, The Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Project (convened by ODU and launched in June 2014 with MTS), was one of the three White House National Security Council pilots and one of the three Department of Defense pilots in response to the 2013 Presidential Executive Order, “Preparing the U.S. for the Impacts of Climate Change” (http://www.centerforsealevelrise.org/).
Two key national leaders, Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations, Energy and Environment Dennis McGinn, touted this effort as an effective process to both mitigate and adapt to rising sea levels and to address both national security and economic impact concerns. They went on to say that the ideas of an integrated regional approach could serve as an effective and efficient building block for a national water plan, providing a template for other regions of the country and overseas, particularly where our Navy has a presence
