Forming local resilience committees – October 31st Webinar

September 30, 2019

Resilient Connecticut Webinar Series

Forming local resilience committees:
A discussion with two Connecticut coastal towns

Webinar held on Thursday, October 31, 2019
11:00 am – 12:00 pm

As the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt at a local level, community-driven resilience planning becomes ever-more important. On October 31st CIRCA hosted staff from two coastal Connecticut towns that are in the process of forming resilience committees. Joe MacDougald, UConn faculty and a Madison resident, co-presented with Dave Anderson, Town of Madison’s Director of Planning & Economic Development, and Tom Banisch, Madison’s First Selectman. They were joined by Jessie Stratton who is a member of a task force helping to lead Groton’s resilience planning effort.

After a short introduction, presenters described their committees’ charge and structure, technical assistance needs, and ways they are bringing together diverse stakeholders to address resilience.

Webinar Introduction – Joe MacDougald

Madison Coastal Resiliency Commission – Dave Anderson Presentation

Groton Coastal Resiliency Commission – Jessie Stratton

In related news, the Madison Board of Selectmen have appointed 19 members to a Coastal Resiliency Commission to begin addressing potential threats and concerns to Madison’s beaches and coastline as a whole. For further information, a link to an article can be found here.

WATCH THE WEBINAR VIDEO:


WEBINAR SERIES

This webinar is part of a monthly series hosted by CIRCA and involving different partners & organizations. These webinars will be available to watch live with opportunity for Q&A and a recording will be posted shortly following the event.

To receive notification about upcoming webinars, please sign up below for the Resilience Roundup e-newsletter and CIRCA Announcements.

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Connecticut’s climate report: precipitation projections and a New Haven case study

August 29, 2019

Resilient Connecticut Webinar Series

Connecticut’s climate report:
precipitation projections and a New Haven case study

Friday, September 27, 2019
12:00 – 1:00 pm

Planning for adaptation requires localized information about expected changes in climate. Until recently, the spatial scale of climate projections did not allow for detailed regional analysis. While national and international climate assessments generate consensus-based scientific summaries, this information often falls short of being usable for decision-making at the local level. State-level climate assessments seek to provide information that supports local decision-making. During this webinar, two presenters described their work related to precipitation projections and assessment at the local level:

Professor Guiling Wang from UConn’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering highlighted Connecticut’s precipitation projections as described in a new report, Connecticut Physical Climate Science Assessment Report. The purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of the state of the science regarding observed changes and projections for temperature and precipitation (i.e., physical climate).

Guiling Wang Webinar Presentation

Dawn Henning, Project Manager from New Haven’s Engineering Department then described how the city is creating a low-cost “smart city” stormwater sensor network to provide a detailed record of the interaction of rainfall, tides, green stormwater infrastructure, and sewer conveyance systems on the hydrology of New Haven’s urban core. New information will target gaps and inconsistencies in the understanding of the large and complex drainage area around the city. This understanding is becoming even more important in the face of climate change.

Dawn Henning Webinar Presentation

 

WEBINAR VIDEO

WEBINAR SERIES

This webinar is part of a monthly series hosted by CIRCA and involving different partners & organizations. These webinars will be available to watch live with opportunity for Q&A and a recording will be posted shortly following the event.

To receive notification about upcoming webinars, please sign up below for the Resilience Roundup e-newsletter and CIRCA Announcements.

New Planning and Visualization Tools for Sea Level Rise

June 27, 2019

Resilient Connecticut Webinar Series

New Planning and Visualization Tools for Sea Level Rise
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
11:00 am-12:00 pm

Barrier Beach Resilience Diagram

 Marsh Resilience Diagram

 Resilience Corridor Diagram

Sea level rise has multiple impacts on the Connecticut shoreline, including increased erosion rates, frequency of flooding, and coastal inundation. Recent research and planning tools generated from a “Municipal Resilience Planning Assistance Project” combines science and planning to address the resilience of vulnerable communities along Connecticut’s coast to the growing impacts of climate change.

On this webinar (view video below), new planning tools released by CIRCA and UConn’s Center for Energy and Environmental Law (CEEL) were highlighted, including three “resilience scenarios” that can be used by municipal and state agency staff as communication and planning tools. These scenarios are drawings that depict sea level rise and flooding problems common in many Connecticut towns. The drawings are particularly useful to town planners or town engineers as they have controllable “layers” that can be manipulated to highlight the various problems.

Speakers included:

Joe MacDougald, UConn Professor in Residence and the Executive Director of Center for Energy & Environmental Law

Alex Felson, CIRCA Director of Resilience Design

Webinar Recording:


NEW WEBINAR SERIES!

This webinar is part of a monthly series hosted by CIRCA and involving different partners & organizations. These webinars will be available to watch live with opportunity for Q&A and a recording will be posted shortly following the event. So if you can’t attend the live webinar, you should still register! We will send out slides and recording to all registrants.

To receive notification about upcoming webinars, please sign up below for the Resilience Roundup e-newsletter and CIRCA Announcements.

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Block Grant National Disaster Recovery Program, as administered by the State of Connecticut, Department of Housing.

Regional Resilience Planning for Protection of Public Drinking Water Webinar

June 4, 2019

Resilient Connecticut
Webinar Series

Regional Resilience Planning for
Protection of Public Drinking Water
Friday, June 28, 2019
10:00-11:00 am

UConn researchers worked with the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) and the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) to integrate climate change information into water planning processes for the region. With changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and drought anticipated due to climate change, water utility managers will benefit from the integration of climate data into regional planning.

Steven Wallett from the Connecticut Department of Public Health began the webinar by providing a brief update about the state’s new Drinking Water Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Plan. Professor Christine Kirchhoff from UConn’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering then highlighted recent climate trends and projections for precipitation patterns and drought and describe how these will impact water systems state-wide. She also reviewed a new statewide survey and interview results with community water system managers. John Hudak, Environmental Planning Manager at the South Central Connecticut RWA spoke about the importance of these studies along with recommendations for regional drinking water resilience and growing concerns of climate impacts.

Webinar Recording

NEW WEBINAR SERIES!

This webinar is part of a monthly series hosted by CIRCA and involving different partners & organizations. These webinars will be available to watch live with opportunity for Q&A and a recording will be posted shortly following the event. So if you can’t attend the live webinar, you should still register! We will send out slides and recording to all registrants.

To receive notification about upcoming webinars, please sign up below for the Resilience Roundup e-newsletter and CIRCA Announcements.

 

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Block Grant National Disaster Recovery Program, as administered by the State of Connecticut, Department of Housing.

May 28, 2019 – Resilient Development Webinar

May 2, 2019

Resilient Connecticut Webinar in partnership with
the CEDAS Academy:
Addressing Climate Change Through Resilient Development

 


CIRCA partnered with the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) to host a webinar on May 28, 2019 focused on topics related to the Resilient Connecticut Project. As communities across the state begin planning for anticipated climate change impacts, economic developers and land use planners must have a better understanding of ways to address them and guide developers to responsible and sustainable construction projects. This webinar explored the effects of climate change on sea level rise projections for Connecticut as well as the impact of increased flooding on critical infrastructure, transportation, and housing. Speakers also described resilient design strategies for new development and provided examples in communities throughout the northeast.

Attendees learned:

  • The anticipated impact of climate change on infrastructure, transportation, and housing.
  • Best practices in designing new development for climate resiliency.
  • Real life examples of communities throughout the northeast that are successfully implementing resilient development projects.

Speakers:

  • Yaprak Onat, CIRCA Assistant Director of Research |Presentation
  • Alex Felson, CIRCA Deputy Executive Director
  • Robert Freudenberg, RPA Vice President

To read more about speakers, including CIRCA staff, click hereCIRCA-icon

April 30, 2019 Resilient Connecticut Webinar – materials posted online

April 30, 2019

On April 30, 2019 CIRCA staff gave an overview of the new Resilient Connecticut project and its focus on New Haven and Fairfield Counties.  The importance of this work was introduced with a description of the latest climate projections for Connecticut’s sea level rise, temperature, and precipitation followed by a description of how Resilient Connecticut will address this projected climate change.  The CIRCA team then described resilient design strategies being considered and opportunities for engagement in this project over the next three years.  A video link and slides include the following:

Resilient Connecticut kickoff webinar slides_4.30.19


CIRCA Presenters:

James O’Donnell – Executive Director

John Truscinski – Director of Resilience Planning

Alex Felson – Director of Resilience Design

Katie Lund – Director of Engagement

April 30, 2019 Resilient Connecticut Kickoff Webinar

April 2, 2019

Resilient Connecticut
Webinar Series Kickoff
April 30, 2019
1:00 – 2:00 pm


During this webinar, participants can learn and ask questions about:

  1. The latest climate projections for Connecticut sea level rise, temperature, and precipitation
  2. An overview of innovative resilient design strategies
  3. This new Resilient Connecticut project and opportunities to be involved moving forward.


WEBINAR DESCRIPTION

CIRCA staff gave an overview of a new project entitled, Resilient Connecticut and its focus on New Haven and Fairfield Counties. The importance of this work was introduced with a description of the latest climate projections for Connecticut’s sea level rise, temperature, and precipitation along with concerns about how these will impact critical infrastructure, transportation, and housing along the coast. The CIRCA team then described resilient design strategies being considered and opportunities for engagement in this project over the next three years. Resilient Connecticut will involve extensive public input and coordination with state agencies, regional Councils of Governments, municipalities, nonprofits, and consultants to generate a series of innovative and practical projects.

NEW WEBINAR SERIES!

This webinar will be the start of a new monthly series hosted by CIRCA and involving different partners & organizations. Featured topics through 2019 will include: state and regional drinking water vulnerability assessment, projections for Connecticut rainfall and municipal assessment of tides and precipitation on storm sewer systems, municipal policies for addressing sea level rise, and road flooding studies and projects. These webinars will be available to watch live with opportunity for Q&A and a recording will be posted shortly following the event.

To receive notification about upcoming webinars, please sign up below for the Resilience Roundup e-newsletter and CIRCA Announcements. Can’t attend live? You should still register! We will be sending out slides and recording to all registrants.

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Community Block Grant National Disaster Recovery Program, as administered by the State of Connecticut, Department of Housing.