This project will serve the 72 communities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina that have recently received Community Disaster Resilience Zone (CDRZ) designations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Dr. Emily Powell from FSU and Carolyn Cox from UF will co-lead the Florida region along with several partners from UF-IFAS Extension and Sea Grant within the CDRZ communities.
Our partner organizations Georgia Conservancy, the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency, the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman University, and the Florida Climate Institute will establish Navigators to serve as trusted partners for CDRZ communities in their state. These Navigators will work directly with CDRZ communities to help them identify and take advantage of funding sources and capacity building opportunities, and secure technical support necessary to develop strategies that lead to tangible resilience benefits. Additionally, Project IN-CORE and Resilient Cities Catalyst will offer direct technical support to communities across the four states.
In addition to supporting CDRZ communities, this project serves as a Climate Ready America demonstration project and supports planning for the Georgia Climate Innovation Center. This project also serves a larger role within the climate resilience field by developing a measurement and evaluation framework, led by EcoAdapt, that can be used by organizations helping CDRZ communities nationwide.
We are continuing to work with federal agencies, philanthropies, and the corporate sector to build a national network of Navigators to support CDRZ communities in all states and territories. Our goal is to have this network of climate services for CDRZ communities serve as the foundation for the Climate Ready America initiative.
