Community-Centered Resilience: Lessons from Louisiana

Please RSVP to expedite check-in A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EST at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting) The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing on community-centered resilience featuring an example from Louisiana which holds lessons for all regions of the country. Across the United States, communities are facing increased uncertainty from changes such as shifting agricultural growing seasons and intensifying coastal erosion. These changes hit close to home, and communities should be at the center of finding solutions to increase their resilience. Louisiana’s Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (LA SAFE) took on this challenge. The initiative addresses community resilience holistically by integrating risk planning with planning for stormwater management, housing, transportation, economic development, education, recreation, and culture. Using a ground-breaking approach to community adaptation planning, LA SAFE, which is a collaboration between the Louisiana Office of Community Development and the Foundation for Louisiana, held 71 community meetings and engaged with over 3,000 people in coastal Louisiana. Together, the communities developed adaptation plans and voted on pilot projects, which jumpstarted the initiative’s implementation stage funded by federal Community Development Block Grants. Briefing panelists will discuss the process and outcomes of the LA SAFE initiative to date to provide attendees with an understanding of how this model can be applied in districts across the country.