The urgent need to address the growing risk of storm- and sea level rise-driven flooding, locally and around the world, led the Climate School to make coastal resilience one of its first four transdisciplinary initiatives. Here in the New York metropolitan area, this initiative is served by the Resilient Coastal Communities Project (RCCP), under the auspices of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD), working in partnership with the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. The RCCP’s principal goal will be to foster new collaborations between practitioners and researchers, as envisioned in Columbia’s Task Force Report on Directed Action, to help develop actionable, fundable, and equitable solutions to flood risks that also deliver complementary benefits, like habitat restoration, job creation and greater community cohesion and help maintain the Climate School’s commitment to fairness, social justice - and anti-racism.
The RCCP aims to address the challenges of coastal resilience through a combination of iterative engaged scientific research, community engagement and innovation; academic and clinical support for enhanced community participation in public planning; communications initiatives to build public awareness and support effective action; classroom instruction; and workshops, conferences & other convenings.
In short, the job of the Resilient Coastal Communities Project is to support learning and foster effective solutions, developed in partnership with frontline communities, governments and other stakeholders, to climate-related threats.
RCCP - Activities and Achievements in 2024.pdf
Resilient Coastal Communities Project: Executive Summary, initial Project Team and Advisory Board