New Community of Practice for Coastal Inundation

The American Society of Adaptation Professionals has partnered with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (“OCM”) and the National Sea Grant Office (“NSGO”) to bring together the people and ideas needed to build resilience to coastal inundation.

As climate change impacts worsen, so does coastal inundation (i.e., water on normally dry ground as a result of flooding caused by sea level rise, storm surge, high tides, precipitation, or other factors). 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.

Over the course of 4 years, ASAP will collaborate with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (“OCM”) and the National Sea Grant Office (“NSGO”) to build and facilitate a Coastal Inundation Community of Practice. 

ASAP was a natural fit to partner on this Community of Practice as we host a network of over 1,000 individuals from within all sectors – many of whom explicitly work on coastal inundation issues. ASAP is skilled in bringing those people together, as we do via a dozen or more peer learning meetings each month.

With the support of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (“OCM”), the Community of Practice leverages and expands upon their mission to provide coastal planners with the skills, tools, and data needed to manage the nation’s coastal resources and communities. OCM places an emphasis on collaborating with local governments, states, non-profit organizations, communities, and others to advance coastal management, research, education, and engagement.

Additionally, the National Sea Grant Office (“NSGO”) brings expertise on coastal, marine, and Great Lakes resources to support a network that engages and empowers coastal communities with knowledge, tools, and services.

Together, ASAP, OCM, and NSGO will support an implementation team composed of recognized leaders in coastal flooding from diverse expertise, regional affiliations, and ties to existing resilience networks to guide the CoP direction. Project partners and the implementation team will be instrumental in helping the CoP achieve its mission of creating a national network of practitioners that facilitates peer-to-peer learning, information exchange, and collaborative engagement to advance coastal flooding science, knowledge, and solutions. 

How ASAP Members Can Get Involved

ASAP Members and the network can:

Contact ASAP’s Communication Manager, Kyla Bloyer, at kbloyer@adaptpros.org with any questions.