On April 24, 2019, Dan Rizza of Climate Central, as a member of the Gullah/Geechee Sustainability Think Tank, co-presented and participated in an interactive training session entitled Cultural Competency, Collaboration & Environmental Equity in Adaptation: Island and Sea Living Examples of the Gullah/Geechee, at the National Adaptation Forum in Madison, Wisconsin. 

The training and workshop was led by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation. Co-presenters included Glenda Simmons-Jenkins, Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Committee of Northeast Florida, Astrid Caldas of Union of Concerned Scientists, and Kate Derrickson of the Univeristy of Minnesota. 

On February 11, 2019, Climate Central participated in a Special Interest Meeting (SIM) at Coastal GeoTools with NOAA, The Nature Conservancy, The Association of State Floodplain Managers, & Coastal States Organization. The SIM focused on the application of FEMA Community Rating System (CRS) resources to help communities preserve open spaces within the floodplain to reduce flood risk, and insurance costs. 

We provided an overview of our Surging Seas CRS Guide. The guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to access information and downloads from the Surging Seas web tool that could be utilized within specific CRS activities in FEMA’s 2017 CRS Coordinator’s Manual.

On April 18, 2018, the Southeast and Caribbean Climate Community of Practice jointly hosted a webinar with the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice.

Climate Central served as the featured presenter of the webinar, giving an overview of the Surging Seas CRS Guide.  The guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to access information and downloads from the Surging Seas web tool that could be utilized within specific CRS activities in FEMA’s 2017 CRS Coordinator’s Manual.

Climate Central presented the Surging Seas web tools at the Coastal Cultures Conference 2018-Emergency Preparedness and Cultural Continuation in Coastal Communities, led by Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation, on April 14th in St Helena Island, SC.

The purpose of this annual event is to share with the community the knowledge and resources necessary to help sustain the coastline and the Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage. View event details and the Gullah/Geechee Nation Facebook page. 

Climate Central presented its Surging Seas CRS Guide to county and municipal officials at the FEMA Community Rating System (CRS) Users Group in Centreville, Maryland.

NOAA presented its guide on How to Map Open Space for CRS credit, TNC presented its CRS Explorer, and the Coastal States Organization (CSO) presented its CRS Green Guide.

In November, in Dover, Delaware, Climate Central presented on sea level rise and coastal flood risk at NAACP Delaware State Conference.

Left to right: Deirdre Church, Environmental and Climate Justice Program, NAACP; Rick Sheppard from The Drifters; Dan Rizza, Climate Central; C. Linwood Jackson, President NAACP Delaware State Conference of Branches.

The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) co-hosted the Resilient Nation Partnership Network’s (RNPN) 2017 Annual Forum.

Climate Central presented its Surging Seas CRS Guide and web tools within the RNPN partner showcase session. 

Other presenters included officials from FEMA, Pew, Rare, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, FEMA, TNC, and Mayor Dawn Zimmer (Hoboken, N.J.).

The World Science Festival brings science to the crossroads of the world, Times Square. Climate Central demonstrated its Surging Seas Mapping Choices web tool within the Science in the Square portion of the festival.

Climate Central presented its Surging Seas CRS Guide in a Special Interest Meeting at Coastal GeoTools (Session 7) on February 6, 2017, in Charleston, SC. Climate Central presented alongside NOAA, TNC, and ASFPM, who have also developed web tools, guides, or resources for CRS coordinators. The Coastal GeoTools conference focuses on geospatial data, tools, technology, and information for coastal resource management professionals.

The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary insurance rating program that recognizes communities for implementing floodplain management practices that exceed the Federal minimum requirements of the NFIP. In exchange for a community’s proactive efforts to reduce flood risk, policyholders can receive reduced flood insurance premiums for buildings in the community.

Climate Central has identified many ways the Surging Seas web tool could be used to support activities that receive points within the CRS.

Climate Central presented at the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s February 10, 2016 Luncheon: How Sea Level Rise & Storm Surges Are Affecting Our Economy? along with Dr. Rachel Cleetus from Union of Concerned Scientists, Karina Castillo of Moms Clean Air Force, and Dr. Henry Briceño of Florida International University. The event was moderated by NBC 6 Chief Meteorologist, John Morales, and introduced by the Chief of Staff of Florida Congressman Curbelo.

More than 80 business leaders from South Florida attended. Panelists discussed sea level rise science and the current and potential future impacts of storm surge and rising seas to South Florida and its economy.

Climate Central participated in the “Tools Café” of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium's Climate Outreach Community of Practice April 2016 Meeting. We demonstrated Surging Seas Risk Finder and discussed with planners the ways in which the public web tool could be utilized within FEMA's Community Rating System.

The Climate Community of Practice brings together extension, outreach and education professionals and community officials in the Gulf to learn how coastal communities can adapt to sea-level rise, precipitation changes and other climate-related issues.

Dr. Benjamin Strauss, Vice President for Sea Level and Climate Impacts at Climate Central was keynote speaker at the 2016 New Jersey Sustainability Summit at The College of New Jersey.

Over 300 members of the public attended, including mayors, municipal and school district staff, environmental commission and state agency employees, and academic, business and non-profit leaders.

Climate Central presented its Surging Seas web tools at Weather+Climate Day at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

The event was organized by Maryland's leading environmental agencies and non-profit organizations to help students learn more about climate change and how it will influence their futures. The nearly 5,000 visitors to the Aquarium passed through the climate exhibits and had the opportunity to view presentations by Maryland’s weathercasters.

Climate Central presented its Surging Seas web tools at Arctic Matters Day, a free public symposium held by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC on January 14, 2016.

Arctic Matters is public engagement initiative designed to increase awareness of the dramatic changes affecting the Arctic region and the many potential impacts that such changes can have on people and places around the world.

Representatives from the governmental, non-profit, private, and educational sectors attended.

Climate Central presented Surging Seas Mapping Choices at the Google Portal, a central gathering space in the Climate Generations area of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

Visitors had an interactive experience with our Maps, Fly-overs, and Images and got to see the places that meant the most to them mapped on the big screen.

On July 15, 2015, Climate Central and The CLEO Institute offered a half-day workshop on climate change and sea level rise to South Florida community leaders. Workshop attendees gained a better understanding of basic climate science, seriousness and solutions. A wide range of stakeholders participated in the workshop, including those from municipal emergency management offices, advocacy groups, Florida universities, the broadcast community, and locally elected officials.

The CLEO Institute is a Miami-based climate education organization that provides Climate Leadership Trainings to officials and stakeholders who want to be educated, engaged, and able to communicate on the issue of climate change.

"CLEO simplifies climate science, seriousness and solutions for a lay public and this tool helps folks in South Florida understand their vulnerability. Showcasing Climate Central’s Surging Seas web tool allows CLEO to provide our trainees meaningful data on SLR and visual cues on inundation predictions for local areas. More and more South Floridians are asking about climate vulnerability and resilience planning, and this tool is a gold mine, Thank you Climate Central." 

     - Caroline Lewis, Executive Director, The CLEO Institute

Climate Central's Program on Sea Level Rise has worked jointly with the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program to conduct workshops on sea level rise, coastal flood risk, and social vulnerability.

The workshops have included presentations by individuals from coastal stakeholder groups such as Sea Grant, FEMA, and local environmental groups, as well as interactive presentations of Surging Seas and other sea level rise web tools. More recently, workshops have included breakout groups and planning sessions in which attendees put together local level action plans.

View workshop listings