The Coastal Inundation Community of Practice is a national network of practitioners that facilitates peer-to-peer learning, information exchange, and collaborative engagement to advance coastal flooding science, knowledge and solutions.
As climate change impacts worsen, so does coastal inundation - water on normally dry ground as a result of flooding. This is a complex problem that requires a multidisciplinary, long-term, coordinated effort to address. The impact of coastal inundation can be devastating, leading to property damage, displacement of populations, and loss of life. Collaboration across the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors ensures that the best available knowledge and expertise are being utilized to address inundation in coastal communities. NOAA's Office for Coastal Management (OCM), the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO), and the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) are collaboratively building and facilitating the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice to advance resilience to flooding now and in the future.
About the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice
Coastal inundation is defined as water on normally dry ground as a result of flooding in communities adjacent to oceans, major estuaries, or the Great Lakes. Coastal inundation can be caused by sea level rise, storm surge, wind, waves, high tide flooding, heavy precipitation, and/or lake level change, among other physical processes, and can have temporary and permanent flooding impacts.
Coastal resilience is the ability of populations, ecosystems, and economies to prepare for, absorb, respond to, recover from, and successfully adapt to the impacts of natural and human-caused hazards, such as hurricanes and oil spills, and long-term environmental change, such as habitat loss and sea level rise.
A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of professionals, informally bound to one another through the common pursuit of solutions through shared interests. Communities of Practice are a way of developing social capital, nurturing new knowledge, stimulating innovation, and learning from one another.
All practitioners addressing current and future coastal flooding in the U.S. states and territories are welcome to join the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice. State and local government staff, consultants, engagement professionals, resilience coordinators, and others may find value in participating.
To address any post-event queries you might have, we’ve compiled a FAQ document. You can access it here.
Upcoming Events
Webinar: Regional Resilience Networks
June 24, 2025 | 2 PM - 3:30 PM ET/ 11 AM - 12:30 PM PT
Join us on June 24th at 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET/ 11:00 AM- 12:30 PM PT for a discussion on regional resilience networks. Panelists will discuss the value of regional networks and highlight strategies that have been successful within their regions for building effective networks for coastal resilience.
Hear from:
- Lydia Salus (Wisconsin Coastal Management Program) – Collaborative Action for Lake Michigan Coastal Resilience (CALM),
- Tracie Sempier (Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium) – Gulf Resilience Community of Practice , and
- Danielle Swallow (Delaware Sea Grant) – Delaware Resilient And Sustainable Communities League (RASCL).
What to expect:
- Panel discussion
- Interactive Q & A
Past Events
This webinar highlighted the CEAR Hub's collaborative work with the Pin Point Betterment Association to address critical challenges facing the historic Gullah Geechee community of Pin Point, GA. Speakers discussed how community-driven strategies are building Pin Point’s resilience against flooding, aging infrastructure, and coastal development while also preserving their rich cultural heritage.
Speakers: Kait Morano (CEAR Hub), and Jasmine Smith (Pin Point Betterment Association)
NOAA's Office for Coastal Management (OCM), the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO), and the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) hosted the 2024 Coastal Inundation Community of Practice Workshop on November 12-14, 2024, at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, Washington. This workshop brought together 100 coastal flooding practitioners representing diverse transdisciplinary perspectives. This in-person workshop provided a unique opportunity to build relationships among practitioners from across the country. Coastal communities faced tremendous inundation threats, and local practitioners addressed these challenges with innovative solutions that transformed coastal ecosystems, built environments, and socioeconomic structures.
This interactive discussion explored strategies for advancing flood resilience in rural coastal communities. Participants engaged with peers in small groups to discuss common challenges and share transferable strategies related to communication and engagement, capacity and partnerships, environmental justice policies, and funding opportunities.
Speaker: Renee Collini (The Water Institute)
During this webinar, participants discussed common terminology and heard case studies from Maine, California, and Hawaiʻi. Speakers focused on the vulnerability assessment planning process and execution, stakeholder engagement, and high-level results from their efforts.
Resources:
- Vulnerability Assessment webinar recording and slides
- Vulnerability Assessment Resource Guide – an inventory of tools and resources that can be helpful when creating coastal flooding vulnerability assessments
- Participant agenda and speaker bios
Speakers: Jessica Brunacini (Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve), Julia Chase (City of San Diego), Ruby Pap (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant), and Jake Thickman (NOAA Office for Coastal Management)
This event launched the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice by creating a collaborative space for participants to connect, listen, share, support, and learn from others on coastal flood risk management challenges. Participants were introduced to the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice, provided input on future activities, and networked with peers. During a panel discussion, speakers shared coastal inundation challenges they face and their perspectives on how the community of practice will be of value in addressing them.
Resources:
- FAQ document
- Virtual Kick-off recording
Speakers: Heidi Stiller (NOAA Office for Coastal Management), Doug Marcy (NOAA Office for Coastal Management), Gwen Shaughnessy (NOAA Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services), Lisa Auermuller (Rutgers – Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (MACH)), Priscilla De La Cruz (City of Providence)
Resources
Newsletter Archive
This document synthesizes insights from group discussions on fostering effective inundation Communities of Practices from the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice Workshop on 11/13/2024 with ~90 coastal flooding practitioners. The conversation focused on four key themes or “ingredients” critical to CoP success: Audience and Purpose, Coordination and Sustained Leadership, Equitable Participation and Knowledge Sharing, and Trust and Relationship Building.
› Download the Ingredients for a Successful Community of Practice
Ways to Get Involved
Call for Stories: Using Art to Build Resilience to Coastal Inundation
Are you involved in a resilience project that uses art to engage communities or address coastal inundation challenges? We are seeking success stories, innovative projects, and individuals who are using art as a method to communicate, inspire, and engage with communities.
Whether it’s through visual art, performance, installations, or other creative approaches, we want to hear how art is helping to raise awareness, spark dialogue, and build stronger, more resilient communities. If you’ve worked on a project that blends art with resilience efforts, or if you know of someone who has, we invite you to share your story with us.
Please email us at ocm.sg@noaa.gov to contribute, learn more, or get involved. We look forward to highlighting the power of art in building resilience to coastal inundation at a future virtual engagement!
Implementation Team
Thank you to the Implementation Team for helping guide the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice! Meet the team:
Lisa Auermuller
Associate Director, Rutgers – Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (MACH)
Henry Bell
Coastal Planner, Washington’s Coastal Zone Management Program at the Department of Ecology
Renee Collini
Director, Gulf Center for Equitable Climate Resilience at The Water Institute
Annie Cox
Watershed Resilience Manager, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership
Eleanor Rappolee
GIS Research Analyst, Flood Science Center at the Association of State Floodplain Managers
Ariam L. Torres-Cordero
Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Planning, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Jen West
Coastal Training Program Coordinator, Narragansett Bay Research Reserve
Contact
(If you are unable to use the button above to generate an email, please right-click the button and select copy email address.)
Funding is made possible by Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a historic, federal government-wide investment that is advancing NOAA's efforts to build Climate-Ready Coasts.