Promotional logos for "Dynamic Shorelines", a NYSG resiliency-building project from which new outreach products were developed for NY’s Hudson and Long Island regions to assist decision makers in choosing shoreline and floodplain management options that can help increase resiliency.
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed ArcGIS story map collections, among other resources, as tools to provide techniques to increase flood and erosion resilience in NY’s Hudson and Long Island regions.
New York’s coastal regions are experiencing rising sea levels, more frequent and intense storm events, and heavy downpours that can result in compounding hazards such as flooding and shoreline erosion. A lack of general knowledge about natural shoreline and watershed processes can lead to decisions that exacerbate these risks over time. Even when significant effort is dedicated to education and technical assistance for communities, the benefits may be lost over time due to turnover of elected officials, municipal staff, and the influx of new residents.
Through a Cooperating Technical Partnership between FEMA and NYSG, the need for education for shoreline decisionmakers was recognized and addressed by developing ArcGIS story map collections for the Hudson and Long Island regions. The collections tell the complex story of climate risk alongside options for mitigative actions and related resources and tools. They are an engaging tool for risk communication that discuss the coastal processes and hazards that occur, how to increase resiliency through shoreline management, stories from the community, and other existing local resources.
NYSG conducted focus groups and interviews as part of a needs assessment to better understand shoreline decisionmakers’ (i.e., residents, municipal officials, and businesses) experiences with the risks and hazards of living on or working along the shoreline. This effort informed the development of the story maps by identifying what information was needed to assist communities and properties in becoming more resilient to flooding and erosion. An extensive review process, that included input from resilience practitioners, helped refine the story map collections and allowed tailoring them to the target audiences in each region.
A novel approach to branding and advertising the online resources was developed to improve the accessibility and uptake of these new resources for New York’s Hudson and Long Island regions.
