Coastal Resilience in Alaska

Please RSVP to receive briefing updates A live webcast will be streamed at 2 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on scientific developments and policy initiatives that are helping protect Alaskan ecosystems and communities from erosion, sea level rise, and other coastal hazards. Alaska coastal communities are experiencing extreme challenges as shore-fast ice—a coastal buffer to storm water—disappears and houses built on thawing permafrost buckle and become uninhabitable. Stakeholder engagement combined with up-to-date scientific analyses on environmental risk are necessary to create adaptation plans that make economic sense while assisting vulnerable communities. The panelists will describe the collaborative process between federal, state, local, and tribal stakeholders in collecting, sharing, and acting on scientific data to inform policy decisions around adaptation and help communities define and achieve their resilience goals. These projects can serve as a model for other regions experiencing similar issues in high-latitude or coastal areas.