The Hampton Roads area of Virginia is facing the highest rates of sea level rise along the entire east coast.
The area is second only to New Orleans as the population center most at risk for the effects of coastal flooding and other hazards. The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) project team is working across disciplines and schools at UVA, as well as with William and Mary Virginia Coastal Policy Center and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and Old Dominion University/ Virginia Sea Grant to develop to develop a scorecard checklist of resilience preparedness and action. Localities from the Hampton Roads region are working closely with the RAFT project team to implement the scorecard, and identify concrete one-year Resilience Action Plan and actions to increase locality resilience.
While other resilience scorecards exist, the RAFT is unique because the leadership team is composed of a three-university partnership, providing an independent assessment, as opposed to self-assessment. In addition, RAFT will be working closely with faculty during their assessment to identify novel economic and motivational tools that can help localities see climate change action as something they are willing and able to engage in.
