What: New England Coastal Hazards Resilience Webinar: Documenting Coastal Storm Damages
When: September 28, 2011, 12:00‐1:30 PM (EST)

On Wednesday, September 28th from noon to 1:30 PM (EST), officials from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) will host the first in a series of brown bag webinars focused on coastal hazards resilience resources in New England. Julia Knisel, MA CZM Coastal Shoreline and Floodplain Manager, will introduce and demonstrate the new StormReporter web tool that enables trained state and local officials as well as citizens to document near real‐time coastal storm damages. Lorraine Eddy, MEMA Disaster Recovery Programs Coordinator, will lead a discussion on conducting local storm damage assessments for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The webinar series has been developed by members of the StormSmart New England Group and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council to share coastal hazards resilience information and tools available to state and local officials. Each webinar will feature presentations from regional experts, focused discussion, and online networking. The webinar series complements the “before,” “during,” and “after the storm” themes used to organize the coastal hazards resilience resources available on the StormSmart Coasts Network.

You can download a PDF of the announcement here or visit the event’s page for details and to RSVP.

Using ENOW Data to Help Monitor Economic Health in Coastal Counties
May 26, 2011; 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (eastern)
The oceans and Great Lakes support a wide range of economic sectors in coastal communities, including living resources, marine construction, marine transportation, offshore mineral resources, ship and boat building, and tourism and recreation. The Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW) data set incorporates data on these vital sectors of our national economy using four economic indicators: establishments, employment, wages, and gross domestic product. This webinar will introduce users to data that tell a compelling story of the economic importance of the nation’s oceans and Great Lakes.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/webinar/index.html#enow.

CanVis Web-based Training
June 15, 2011; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (eastern)
This three-hour, instructor-led training includes an introduction to CanVis concepts and functionality, hands-on exercises, and a discussion of potential tool applications.
This training is available virtually through WebEx, at the NOAA Coastal Services Center (Charleston, South Carolina), and as a component of the Coastal Community Planning and Development training. Three hours of certification maintenance credits for this course have been approved by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/canvis/training.html.

How Has Your County Changed?
June 30, 2011; 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (eastern)
Understanding how a coastal county’s land cover has changed over the years is an excellent way to document trends, understand the effects of past land use decisions, and consider future land use planning needs. The Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) examines land cover changes in the nation’s coastal areas. The C-CAP Land Cover Atlas is a new Web-based tool that does not require GIS or advanced technical expertise. This tool helps users to explore and communicate land cover change and trend information with county-specific maps, statistics and reports.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/webinar/index.html#lca.

N-SPECT Web-based Training
July 14, 2011; 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (eastern)
This three-hour, instructor-led training introduces participants to the technical aspects of the GIS-based tool and leads them through hands-on exercises that serve to demonstrate various functions of the tool. The target audience includes GIS professionals working on land use and watershed management projects, including regional and municipal planners, natural resource managers, and others who desire to apply GIS technology to better understand the relationships between land use and water quality.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/nspect/training.html.

CanVis Web-based Training
July 27, 2011; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (eastern)
This three-hour, instructor-led training includes an introduction to CanVis concepts and functionality, hands-on exercises, and a discussion of potential tool applications.
This training is available virtually through WebEx, at the NOAA Coastal Services Center (Charleston, South Carolina), and as a component of the Coastal Community Planning and Development training. Three hours of certification maintenance credits for this course have been approved by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/canvis/training.html.

Engaging Stakeholders in Coastal Management through Participatory Mapping
July 27, 2011; 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (eastern)
Many coastal management agencies devote resources to organizing and depicting spatial information through the use of a geographic information system (GIS). Additionally, agencies have moved toward processes that involve stakeholders, acknowledging the importance of public attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge. This webinar will examine the role of stakeholder engagement in coastal management and the use of participatory mapping as a tool to support decision-making.
For more information or to register, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/webinar/index.html#july.

Thanks for sharing, Marian. We’ve added everything to the StormSmart Connect Calendar. If you have events our members should know about, please let us know!

Speakers include Ed Thomas (Baker), Terri Turner (Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission, GA), Sandy Eslinger (NOAA CSC), Allison Hardin (City of Myrtle Beach, SC), and Christy Miller (TetraTech). And I’ll do a little presentation, too.

We’ll be talking about topics including:

- No Adverse Impact / No Adverse Impact Toolkit – to include basic/better/best (NAI) strategies
- Digital Coast and associated tools
Roadmap for Adapting to Coast Change and associated tools
- Legal aspects of incorporating NAI into the community – topics such as floodplain development case law, community responsibilities, community liability, standards of care, public trust, and takings

The session is Friday from 9-1. 4 CEC credits for participants (in case we needed to sweeten the pot). Register at www.floods.org or call (608) 274-0123.

Hope to see you there!

The next block of these (free) webcasts starts on November 18, 2010. Organizers promise that by the end of the series, participants will know specific actions they can take to build support for adaptation and increase community resilience. Here’s their overview of the programs:

November 18, 2010, 2:00-3:30 PM (EST): Climate Impacts and Risk
Communication
The first webcast in this series will provide an introduction to
adaptation by covering the impacts of climate change across different
regions of the United States; the risk presented by these impacts; how
climate adaptation differs from climate mitigation; and approaches to
engaging various stakeholder groups—regardless of attitudes to climate
change—and effectively communicating risk to build support for
adaptation efforts in the common interest. A representative from a local
government will discuss their experience working successfully with a
range of stakeholders to promote adaptation within the community. To
register for this webcast, visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/289508083. Please note that the
audio portion of this webcast will only be available by dialing into a
toll-free conference call.

December 2010: Adaptation Planning and Implementation
The second session of this webcast mini-series will focus on frameworks
that state and local governments can use to assess vulnerability to
climate change, develop adaption action plans, and implement adaption
strategies for building resilience.

January 2011: Federal Resources and Support for Climate Change
Adaptation
The third webcast in this series will discuss the role of the federal
government in promoting adaptation to climate change in the United
States.

Sounds like something worth keeping an eye on: we’ve added it to the StormSmart Coasts Calendar.

For more information head over to the series website.

Thanks to John Bowie for sharing this.

Image: LuMaxArt Linkware (with EPA logo added)

This training course will present the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) concepts in flood management, damage prevention terminology, and protocols from a local regulator perspective. Major discussion topics include: a historic perspective of the NFIP, roles and responsibilities, cooperative agreements, basic terminology, requirements to local floodplain management, regulatory standards, and administrative priorities. Practical graphic illustrations and procedural flow charts, as well as sample documents are part of the presentation. Each attendee may keep the materials for future reference.

Who’s it for? State and local agency staff and decision makers, attorneys, consultants, members of environmental organizations, and interested citizens.

We’ve added it to our calendar.

Want to learn more? Have a look at their website.

You can find a schedule of all the conference’s events on their website (and we’ll add the lot to the StormSmart Coasts Calendar), but we’d like to especially highlight tomorrow’s: a session called “Sea Level Rise and Property Rights.” Here’s the description:

Even assuming conservative predictions, sea level rise will result in significant threats to the resiliency and long-term sustainability of coastal communities. As the seas continue to rise, waterfront areas along the Gulf of Mexico are undergoing tremendous population growth. Thus, escalating seas present alarming potential for causing physical and economic harm to millions of people around the region. Nevertheless, no Gulf states have implementable, meaningful, comprehensive plans, policies, or regulations directly addressing sea level rise. A team of researchers have been analyzing federal and state constitutional and statutory takings jurisprudence and theories to aid in the creation of innovative land use planning policies for adapting to sea level rise. Members of that team will present their early foundational research.

Sounds good, and is even worth continuing education credit for Florida Bar members. We’ll be listening in. See you there?

Building the Foundation for Hazard and Climate Resilient Coastal Communities

July 28, 2010, 12:00 Noon Eastern
EMForum.org is pleased to host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, July 28, 2010, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time). Our topic will be the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center and its role in working with public and private sector partners to assist coastal communities better understand their risks and choices for how to adapt to the impacts of hazards and a changing climate.

Our special guest will be Margaret Davidson, Director of the NOAA Coastal Services Center since 1995. Ms. Davidson has served on numerous local, state, and federal committees and has provided leadership for national professional societies. Her professional work is focused on environmentally sustainable aquaculture, mitigation of coastal hazards, and impacts of climate variability on coastal resources. She also holds a faculty appointment at the University of Charleston and serves on the adjunct faculties of Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.
Please make plans to join us, and see the Background Page for related materials and Instructions. If this will be your first time to participate, please check your connection at least a day in advance by clicking on the Live Meeting Login link. The Live Meeting client must be used in order to access the audio. As always, please feel free to extend this invitation to your colleagues.

If you’ve never seen or heard Margaret Davidson present before, trust us, you don’t want to miss it. If you have seen her present before, you’re likely already moving your schedule around to make room for this.

(Added to the StormSmart Coasts calendar. Know something else that should be on the calendar? Let us know).

Scientists with the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will hold the last of four panels to discuss the long-term impacts of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Friday, June 25, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Harte Research Institute, Conference Room 127.

The panel discussion is free and open to the public. The meeting can also be viewed on the Internet by going here and clicking on “TAMUCC HRI Panel Discussion on Gulf Oil Spill.”

Remember to keep an eye (or an RSS reader) on the StormSmart Coasts calendar for events like this in the future.

This month’s webinar will be on February 25^th from 12 – 1 (Eastern) and will feature Harvey Ruvin, the Clerk of Courts for Miami-Dade County as well as the Chair of the County’s Climate Change Advisory Task Force.  In this webinar, Mr. Ruvin will discuss his experience with the Task Force and how local  governments can begin to take action to prepare their coastal communities for climate change.

For more information and to register, head over to ICLEI’s events calendar.

“The challenge of living with water is one shared by cities and communities around the world. Nowhere is this more true than in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, where people live with a daily awareness of the threat, and opportunity, of water. Please join us at the Building Resilience Workshop, to be held February 25-27, 2010, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to explore innovative, sustainable ways of increasing community resilience in the face of global climate change.”

Sounds promising. For more information, see the event’s site. Be sure to check out the StormSmart Calendar for other relevant events.