Past Series

Past Individual Sessions

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Climate change is impacting fish, wildlife, and their habitats across all ecosystems in the United States. Natural resource agencies are at the frontline of addressing climate change in fish and wildlife management, but climate change adaptation is just one of many management priorities within an agency. The scale of the problem and urgency needed to address it can feel overwhelming, especially when agency staff tasked with managing projects and assessing hazard risk potentials may not have in-depth knowledge of climate change impacts or the solutions needed to achieve adaptation outcomes in fish and wildlife management.

EcoAdapt along with partners at California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife developed a Climate Change Adaptation Checklist for Climate Smart Projects to aid natural resource managers in evaluating potential climate vulnerabilities of a project or management action prior to implementation, and to improve design, optimize siting, and reduce risk to help a project deliver expected benefits under future climate conditions.   

As a follow-up to their presentation at the 2022 National Adaptation Forum, the speakers will discuss this checklist and present use-cases to help webinar attendees understand how this checklist can inform fish and wildlife management in a changing climate.

Speakers

  • Lara Hansen, Chief Scientist and Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Christopher Hoving, Adaptation Specialist, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Division
  • James Hansen, Environmental Scientist, California Department of Fish and Wildlife

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Nature-based solutions provide opportunities to restore ecosystems while also protecting human well-being and the built environment in the face of climate change. Panelists discuss ways to address climate change impacts through strategic application of nature-based solutions, including current examples and lessons learned. The session highlights work taking place across geographies, habitats and scales in celebration of 2021 Global Adaptation Month and Earth Day’s focus to “Restore our Earth”, brought to you by EcoAdapt’s National Adaptation Forum.

Speakers

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We all depend upon rural resources for food, water, fiber, and our economy. Extreme weather impacts rural lands and small towns but often is not addressed due to a lack of resources. Climate change accelerates the frequency and intensity of many extreme events. In the last few years, raging wildfires in the West and unprecedented flooding in the heartland have devastated forests, farms, fisheries, and watersheds. It is vital to meet the unique challenges and opportunities in rural, underserved jurisdictions. Complicating this challenge, political interests often do not align with addressing climate change per se. The Resilient Rural America Project (RRAP) is creating a series of training modules in partnership with rural leaders to serve their needs. In recent surveys, rural leaders identified extreme weather as their primary concern; the surveys also show existing planning processes as their preferred means to prepare for extreme weather. This webinar reviews RRAP’s approach to integrate extreme weather resilience into local comprehensive planning through risk assessment and implementation of practical resilience strategies. The training mainstreams the Steps to Resilience into rural planning using selected resources from the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, EcoAdapt, Geos Institute, and the Model Forest Policy Program. Webinar participants will gain greater understanding of the importance of rural resilience, the barriers rural communities face, and new ways to advance rural resilience strategies.

Speakers

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In honor of Global Adaptation Month, the climate equity focused webinar featured a panel of environmental justice leaders. The panel broke down the EPA’s recent de-regulation order connected to the COVID-19 crisis and highlight why this compounds existing climate risks faced by environmental justice communities. The session identified solutions to inequity while preparing for climate change.

Speakers

  • Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • Hilton Kelley, Founder & Director, Community In-Power and Development Association Inc.
  • Mustafa Santiago Ali, Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization, National Wildlife Federation
  • Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Applied Environmental Health Associate Professor, University of Maryland

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Marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, multi-faith leaders gathered to discuss ways for cities and communities around the world to implement effective and efficient ways for populations, in particular those that are most vulnerable, to adapt to a changing climate. The discussion based webinar answered pressing questions about faith and climate change, and offer concrete actions that attendees take to help address climate impacts individually and in their faith communities.

Speakers

  • Moderator: Juliet Hall, Faith Leader & Leadership Consultant
  • Ambrose Carroll, Executive Director, Green the Church
  • Huda Alkaff, Founder & Director, WI Green Muslims
  • Mark Douglas, Professor, Columbia Theological Seminary
  • Rev. Gerald Durley, Chair, Interfaith Power and Light
  • Rev. Natosha Reid Rice, All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Founder, Fresh Rain for Life Ministries
  • Shantha Ready Alonso, Executive Director, Creation Justice Ministries

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In celebration of Global Adaptation Month 2020, facilitators Kenneth MacClune and MacKenzie Dove discuss the impacts of climate change on international public health systems. The session included a systems-level discussion to encourage adaptation considerations and provide a virtual space for knowledge exchange.

Speakers

  • Kenneth MacClune, Senior Staff Scientist, ISET-International
  • MacKenzie Dove, PhD, Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research

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In celebration of Global Adaptation Month 2020, Chuck Chaitovitz, Vice President of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, U.S. Chamber of Commerce facilitated a discussion on policy strategies to advance adaptation and resilience. Chuck Chaitovitz prompted a policy-focused discussion among webinar participants to encourage adaptation considerations and provide a virtual space for knowledge exchange.

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In celebration of Global Adaptation Month 2020, Debbie Love, City Planner for City of North Miami and Erin Deady, Owner, Lawyer and Planner for Erin Deady Law discuss sea level rise and retreat decision-making. The facilitators will prompted a retreat-focused discussion among webinar participants to encourage adaptation considerations and provide a virtual space for knowledge exchange. 

Speakers

  • Debbie Love, City Planner for City of North Miami
  • Erin Deady, Owner, Lawyer and Planner for Erin Deady Law

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The field of emergency management has been helping communities assess, plan for, and respond to extreme weather events and other disasters for decades. However, the approaches developed to help communities assess the risk and the potential impacts of extreme weather events have rarely been updated to include climate change. While requirements at the local level vary state by state, there is an opportunity to mainstream adaptation planning and preparedness into the hazard mitigation process. If only we can find ways to effectively merge these two fields and ensure that communities are planning and preparing for both current and future hazards. This webinar brings together representatives of different agencies and organizations to discuss the opportunities and challenges of climate-smart hazard planning and provide examples of where and how disaster preparedness is being used to improve resilience across the country.

Speakers

  • Kristin Baja, Program Director, Urban Sustainability Directors Network
  • Eric Chapman Sr., Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
  • Jonathan Olds, Lead Hazard Mitigation Assistance Specialist, FEMA Region 10
  • Sascha Petersen, Founder and Director, Adaptation International

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Traditional and Indigenous knowledge and perspectives have not often been recognized in planning resources for climate adaptation in natural and cultural resource management. This webinar introduces participants to Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad: A Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu, a new tool to assist in developing specific adaptation actions that recognize and incorporate tribal perspectives. The Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu was created to help integrate tribal and traditional values with climate adaptation planning processes, such as the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science Adaptation Workbook. This first version of the Tribal Adaptation Menu was intentionally created from Ojibwe and Menominee perspectives, languages, concepts, and values. Future versions will be co-developed by other Indigenous peoples, with their languages, concepts, strategies and approaches. The Tribal Adaptation Menu may be used as a tool to help bridge communication barriers for non-tribal persons or organizations interested in indigenous approaches to adaptation and the needs and values of diverse tribal communities. This webinar introduces the concept of an adaptation menu, describes the Tribal Adaptation Menu, introduces a Guiding Principles document which describes a general process for working with tribal communities, and provides a case study of a real-world project that has used the menu.

Speakers

  • Sara Smith, Midwest Tribal Resilience Liaison, College of Menominee Nation – Sustainable Development Institute
  • Rob Croll, Policy Analyst, Division of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
  • Stephen Handler, Climate Change Specialist, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science

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Humans are emotional beings. Stories motivate us more than data. Through storytelling, we can humanize climate change, shift the narrative and inspire action. Victims of climate catastrophe are all too often reduced to numbers. Instead, this webinar focuses on the story of a single individual, Colton Jones, and how wildfires, climate change and structural racism impacted his life. Colton Jones (CJ) is a powerful activist, organizer, healer and artist. At just 25 years of age, CJ has touched innumerable lives in profound ways. In October, 2017 CJ was working on a farm in Northern California when a regional firestorm erupted. The fires produced thick smoke and particulate matter, creating an environment of unhealthy air. Inhaling this toxic air triggered a severe asthma attack that eventually sent CJ into cardiac arrest. His final words on the way to the hospital were “I can’t breathe.” We all have a story to tell. This webinar is about CJ’s story, and the larger role of storytelling in the struggle for climate justice. The story will be told by CJ’s friend Keegan and will feature pre-recorded poetry readings from CJ. 

Speaker

  • Keegan McChesney, Program Fellow, Enterprise Community Partners

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This webinar focuses on the intersection of climate change, poverty, and homelessness, led by a “poverty Skola” from POOR Magazine, a poor people led/indigenous people led, grassroots non-profit, arts organization dedicated to providing revolutionary media access, art, education and advocacy to silenced youth, adults and elders in poverty. The poorest among us know that climate change exacerbates the challenge of the day to day. When people are already struggling to get by without shelter, clothing, or food in places hit by gentrification, displacement, and poverty, emergencies like wildfire or hurricanes will cause another crisis in impossible situations. Some may also be driven to poverty due to climate change and forced migration or become unhoused during climate crises. Access to scant resources for recovery is often complicated by immigration status, age, race, gender, disability, mental health, and other factors that impede the ability to get one’s paperwork in order. While these stories reveal the struggles faced by those living in poverty, they also demonstrate the community resilience and real solutions, beginning with redefining who is centered closest to the crisis of Mama Earth change aka Climate change and the concept of Poverty Scholarship itself, a poor people-led theory to redefine the voices of poor peoples in crisis as experts, rather than “subjects” of research to be talked about us without us. These are seen in the programs run by POOR Magazine called Homefulness. The Camp Fire in Paradise, CA will be used as a case study to discuss crisis points and homelessness, as well as solutions like Unselling Mama Earth, Radical Redistribution & land liberation projects like Homefulness.

Speakers

  • Tiny (Lisa Gray-Garcia), formerly unhoused, incarcerated poverty scholar, revolutionary journalist, lecturer, poet, visionary, teacher and single mama of Tiburcio, daughter of a houseless, disabled mama Dee, and the co–founder of POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE/PoorNewsNetwork
  • Hoi-Fei Mok, Climate Equity Lead, ICLEI USA

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Climate change has been called the greatest 21st century threat to public health. Health departments from around the country, concerned about the negative health impacts of climate change, are engaging communities and professionals from other disciplines to implement adaptation strategies and increase community resiliency. Speakers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative will highlight how state health departments are building climate resiliency by leading with health in adaptation strategies.

Speakers

  • Kristin Raab, MPH, MLA, Director, Minnesota Climate & Health Program, Unit Supervisor, Environmental Health Division, Minnesota Department of Health
  • Aaron Ferguson, MPA, Program Manager Climate & Health Adaptation Program, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
  • Margaret Round, Environmental Analyst Environmental Toxicology Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
  • Nissa Tupper, MLA, Manager, Minnesota Climate & Health Program Minnesota Department of Health

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Climate change impacts all of us. However, low-income communities and communities of color are often hurt first and worst. In these communities, climate change is a complicating environmental challenge stacked on top of histories of pollution, disinvestment, and discrimination. 

Adaptation professionals across the country hope to leverage investments in climate action for achieving climate equity. But the concept’s incorporation into practice ranges from simply identifying vulnerable populations to engaging and empowering these individuals. This panel poses the questions, “How can we understand and employ the concept of climate equity through a more transformative paradigm in practice? What is the difference between climate equity and climate justice, and why does that matter?” 

In a facilitated conversation, panelists will discuss these concepts as it relates to their work. Panelists will debate the merits and weaknesses of institutionalizing these concepts into practice in communities on the ground, as well as discuss best practices in defining, monitoring and evaluating success. 

This panel is comprised of a diverse set of professionals involved in the field of climate adaptation through urban greening. Panelists represent experience and expertise in non-profit and public sector work at local to national levels, and across U.S. geographies.

Speakers

  • Moderator: Lida Aljabar, Climate-Smart Cities Program Manager, The Trust for Public Land
  • Jad Daley, Vice President, Conservation Programs American Forests
  • Jacqui Patterson, Senior Director, Environmental and Climate Justice Program NAACP
  • Fernando Cazares, Climate-Smart Cities – CA Senior Program Manager, The Trust for Public Land
  • Laura Gracia, Climate Adaptation Resiliency Enhancement (CARE) Coordinator, Communities for a Better Environment

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Join us to hear from the creators and early users of the new Commission for Environmental Cooperation North American Marine Protected Area Rapid Vulnerability Assessment Tool. This tool designed in a collaborative process that included EcoAdapt, the Commission on Environmental Cooperation and west coast of North America marine protected area managers and scientists. The tool was designed to help marine protected area managers evaluate the implications of climate change for the habitats of their sites. The tool, available in English and Spanish, has three parts (a user guide, a set of blank worksheets, and a booklet containing sample completed worksheets), which used together allow marine protected area managers conduct a rapid vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy development process.

Webinar participants will hear: 1) Why the tool was created, 2) An overview of the tool (how it works, what it looks like, where to find it), 3) The experience of using the tool, 4) Additional Application of the tool

Speakers

  • Carol Bernthal, Superintendent, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Sara Hutto, Ocean Climate Program Coordinator, Greater Farallones Association
  • Eric Mielbrecht, Directing Scientist and Director of Operations, EcoAdapt
  • Lucie Robidoux, Head of the Ecosystems Unit, Commission for Environmental Cooperation

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This film follows land managers in the Methow Valley, Washington for over a year, from forests to rivers, from fires to snowfall, from beaver capture to release as they try to come to grips with the impacts of climate change and the possible adaptation options right in front of them. It is a conversation starter for answering the question “What can I do?” With support from the best climate experts in the Northwest, it is a chance for each of us to think about what our landscapes will be like ten decades from now. It is a nudge to start today to make our surroundings better than they would be if we did nothing. The film was conceived as part of the 10 Decades Project, the goal of which is to inspire thousands of us to take measurable, concrete steps for climate adaptation in every area for which we are responsible.

Speakers

  • Kent Woodruff, retiring Forest Service Wildlife Biologist and Methow Beaver Project Coordinator
  • Amelia Marchand, Colville Confederated Tribes Water Regulatory Specialist in the Environmental Trust Department
  • Lynn Helbrecht, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Climate Change Coordinator
  • Molly Cross, The Wildlife Conservation Society’s North America Program Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator

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Join a panel discussion to explore what’s been happening in adaptation over the past 100 days. We will discuss the implications of and actions during the first 100 days of the new federal administration, as well as activities in the San Francisco Bay area around the 2016 passage and development of Measure AA, which includes funding for climate change adaptation in that region.

Speakers

  • Matt Gerhart, Program Manager, San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program
  • Jessica Grannis, Adaptation Program Manager, Georgetown Climate Center
  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Dave Pine, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
  • Jessica Wentz, Staff Attorney, Colubmia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

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From decisions on Standing Rock to proposed changes at EPA, climate change conversations have shifted at the federal level, yet climate justice leaders have weathered the storm of these challenges and continue to advocate for climate justice. In 2017, strengthening equitable climate change solutions at the local, regional and state level is even more critical to climate equity and justice communities.

Over several years we have built coalitions and partnerships to address a changing climate. That is even more important today! We need to continue deepening our relationships and foraging ahead to develop equitable adaptation solutions that benefit our communities and environment.

As we prepare for the 2017 National Adaptation Forum what role can the National Adaptation Forum play for the broader climate adaptation movement? What ways can we build cross-sectorial partnerships to for local, regional and state level adaptation wins? What barriers need to be broken and opportunities awakened to harness the momentum before, during, and after National Adaptation Forum? Join us in a conversation among social justice practitioners and adaptation leaders who lead with equitable solutions in their work.

Speakers

  • Moderator: Nile Malloy, Climate Equity Strategist and Consultant
  • Ernesto Arevalo, CARE (Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Enhancement) Coordinator, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE)
  • Angela Adrar, Executive Director, Our Power Campaign and Climate Justice Alliance
  • Seandra Pope, Strategic Consultant

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Over the past decade adaptation has been burgeoning in the United States. While the federal agencies have been part of this for the past several years, they have not always been the primary leaders. What are non-federal entities aiming to do in light of the changes expected in DC? Will their course change or be unaltered?

Speakers

  • Shamar Bibbins, Program Officer for the Environment, The Kresge Foundation
  • Denise Fairchild, President of Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC)
  • Bob Gough, Cultural Ecologist and Attorney
  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Michael McCormick, AICP

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Please join us for the second in a webinar series co-hosted by EcoAdapt and the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) examining climate change and resilience within remediation of contaminated lands. This webinar will feature highlights of the programs being implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State Of Massachusetts. We will also discuss progress in SURF’s 2016 research initiative on this timely topic.

Speakers

  • Carlos Pachon, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. EPA
  • Anne Dailey, Senior Environmental Scientist, U.S. EPA
  • Thomas Potter, Statewide Clean Energy Development Coordinator, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
  • Barbara Maco, Vice President, Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF)

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This webinar is offered as part of the National Adaptation Forum Webinar series and hosted by U.S. Sustainable Remediation Forum, EcoAdapt, and the Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKEx.org). It will feature highlights of the recent Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) conference on Climate Change and Resilience within Remediation, including a comprehensive overview of challenges and opportunities, with a focus on the legal and insurance implications. We will also introduce the new SURF US Technical Initiative that will evaluate the necessary planning, research and activities to ensure the long term sustainability of site remediation, and examine the benefits of rehabilitated land to strengthen community and ecosystem resilience.

Speakers

  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • William Wick, Founding Partner, Wactor & Wick LLP
  • Gregory Schilz, Executive Vice President, JLT Specialty USA
  • Barbara Maco, Vice President, Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF)

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Learn about climate adaptation activities in the Southeast United States, focusing on water resources in 11 states in the Southeast including- Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida – as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Speakers

  • Rachel Gregg, Lead Scientist, EcoAdapt
  • Chris Burkett, Wildlife Action Plan Coordinator, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
  • Andrea Webster, Project manager, Office of Sustainability, Develop Louisville

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Local, regional, state and national planning and implementation efforts could better use equity approaches that benefit the diverse needs of low-income and the most vulnerable communities. While we plan for the National Adaptation Forum and other forums, how do we better include equity perspectives, strategies and leaders to further advance the climate adaptation field? What are some of the strategies and practices that city planners, community-based organizations, funders and others are doing to build a more diverse and equitable climate adaptation field?

Speakers

  • Moderator: Nile K. Malloy, Climate Equity Strategist and Consultant
  • Ryan Chavez, Infrastructure Coordinator, UPROSE, New York
  • Shalini Gupta, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED)
  • Garrett Fitzgerald, Strategic Partnerships Advisor, Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN)
  • Kirsten Schwind, Co-founder and Senior Strategist, Bay Localize
  • Shamar A. Bibbins, Program Officer Environment, The Kresge Foundation

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Join us for the quarterly National Adaptation Forum Webinar to learn about the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in climate adaptation planning.

TEK is knowledge handed down through generations through traditional stories and beliefs, including the relationship with the natural environment. This webinar will focus on the importance and role of TEK in adaptation planning at local, regional, and national level.

Speakers

  • Margaret Hiza Redsteer, US Geological Survey
  • Preston Hardison, Policy Analyst, Tulalip Natural Resources
  • Kyle Powys Whyte, Timnick Chair in the Humanities, Michigan State University

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This quarterly National Adaptation Forum Webinar focused on climate adaptation evaluation and monitoring examples in the field.  EcoAdapt’s Adaptation Ladder of Engagement helps you assess your “State of Adaptation” to determine what you could be doing improve your efforts to address climate change. One of the critical steps in the ladder is evaluation. Practitioners in the field are looking at ways to integrate monitoring and evaluation into their work to determine what is working and what is not working. Join us to learn about examples of climate adaptation adaptation evaluation and monitoring efforts in the field. 

Speakers

  • Rachel Gregg, Lead Scientist, EcoAdapt
  • Anne Carlson, Climate Associate, The Wilderness Society
  • Mallory Morgan, Climate Fellow, San Diego Foundation

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Climate change is impacting communities of color disproportionately. To respond to these challenges the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Climate Justice Initiative is working to educate communities to adapt to climate change. Join Jacqui Patterson, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, to learn about her work on equity indicators and applications. Also hear about how these innovative indicators are being applied in the planning of newly formed Eco-Districts in Longview, TX and Gulfport, MS. 

Speakers

  • Jacqui Patterson, Direcor, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program
  • Vik Verma, Longview Eco-District Coalition
  • Branden Johnson, Longview Eco-District Coalition
  • Katherine Egland, Gulfport Eco-District Coalition

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This two-part webinar raises issues for small agriculture and Indigenous Community/Tribal adaptation with people and groups who are potential collaborators. Part One: Becoming Unconventional: Small Agriculture Adaptation Issues (John Wiener). Part Two: Moving Adaptation Forward: Diverse Knowledges and Partnerships, Creating Opportunities for Capacity Building and Adaptation Solutions (Julie Maldonado).

Speakers

  • John Wiener, Ph.D., Research Associate, Program on Environment and Society, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Julie Maldonado, Ph.D. Lead Author, U.S. National Climate Assessment; Ph.D., Department of Anthropology, American University.

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The Local Government Commission and the State of California organized the first California Adaptation Forum in the state capital, held August 19–20, 2014. This two-day forum built off of the 2013 National Adaptation Forum in Colorado. The attendance of many California leaders there underscored the need for a California-focused event, which will be held every other year to complement the biennial National Forum. This webinar provides a recap on the thoughts, themes, and solutions participants discussed.

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This webinar focuses on how cities and communities might best respond to the complexities of a changing climate and how to best adapt to the on-the-ground issues with examples in Detroit and Brooklyn. This is the third installment of the National Adaptation Webinar Series and is sponsored by EcoAdapt, the National Wildlife Federation, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, and Uprose, and hosted by CAKEx.org.

Speakers

  • Kara Reeves, National Wildlife Federation Climate-Smart Communities Program
  • Kimberly Hill Knott, Director, Detroiters Working For Environmental Justice (DWEJ)
  • Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE
  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt

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The California Natural Resources Agency, in coordination with other state agencies, is updating the 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy. The draft Safeguarding California Plan augments previously identified strategies in light of advances in climate science and risk management options. The plan is currently open for comment. Join this webinar to learn what California and other jurisdictions are doing as they develop adaptation plans.

There will also be a chance to ask questions about the upcoming California Adaptation Forum. The Local Government Commission and the State of California are organizing the first California Adaptation Forum in the state capital for next summer. This two-day forum will build off a successful National Adaptation Forum held in Colorado in 2013. The attendance of many California leaders there underscored the need for a California-focused event, which will be held every other year to complement the biennial National Adaptation Forum.

Speakers

  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Amber Pairis, Assistant Secretary for Climate Change, California Natural Resources Agency
  • Michael McCormick, AICP, Local and Regional Affairs Advisor, California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research

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Cities and communities are confronted with planning and implementing climate adaptation with very few resources available to help pay for the help they need. Adaptation funding is competing against already limited funding for schools, police, and libraries from scarce local resources. So, while adaptation is a responsible long-term investment for communities, it is usually very difficult to secure adequate funding for planning and implementation. During this webinar we will explore ways to use existing mandates for implementing adaptation, give an example of how adaptation is moving forward in the City of Cleveland, and provide a forum for discussion on challenges and creative ways to move adaptation forward.

This webinar is the first of the National Adaptation Webinar Series and is sponsored by EcoAdapt and Georgetown Law Center and hosted by CAKEx.org.

Speakers

  • Lara Hansen, Executive Director, EcoAdapt
  • Sara P. Hoverter, Senior Fellow (health & climate) and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Law Center
  • Jenita McGowan, Chief of Sustainability, City of Cleveland