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March 2024
2024 RNPN Partnership Forum
Join us online Thursdays in April from 1 – 3 p.m. ET for the RNPN Partnership Forum!
The 2024 Forum is held in partnership with the Sundance Institute. The theme for this year’s forum is “Stories of Resilience: Voices that Inspire.” It will focus on ways to use storytelling to advance action toward natural hazard resilience. We will discuss climate equity, migration, agriculture, extreme heat, and the power of stories.
Register at FEMA.gov/RNPN. Registration is open to all.
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 FEMA Events:
Conferences and Workshops to Note:
NASA: New NASA Disasters Funded Research Opportunities Announced
NASA is seeking proposals for its ROSES 2024 Solicitation: "A.42 Earth Action: Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery, and Resilience." This funding opportunity focuses on integrating Earth science information to foster resilience by addressing hazards, community exposure, and vulnerability.
Notices of Intent are due by March 28. Proposals are due June 14.
Learn more here
SPIN Global: The SPIN Global Community Disaster Resilience Fund
The SPIN Global Community Disaster Resilience Fund is directing private equity and pension fund investments toward infrastructure projects with a minimum value of $100 million up to $50 billion. Its initial areas of interest include energy, communications, transportation, and water projects. The Fund seeks projects that will both reduce risk to disasters and enhance economic opportunities in underserved and marginalized communities through private-public partnership.
The Fund offers rapid mobilization of financing within just 16 weeks of initial project approval and provides an alternative solution to the pressing challenge of funding resilient infrastructure worldwide.
Learn more here
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: National Coastal Resilience Fund 2024 Request for Proposals
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is pleased to announce the 2024 National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) Request for Proposals (RFP). NFWF will make investments in planning, design, and implementation of natural and nature-based solutions. The goal is to enhance protection for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural coastal hazards and to improve habitats for fish and wildlife.
Pre-proposal Due Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. ET
Full Proposal by Invite Only Due Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. ET
Learn more here
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Environmental Protection Agency: "Creating Co-Benefits Through Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management" Training
EPA’s Nonpoint Source (NPS) program, alongside EPA’s Watershed Academy, is excited to announce the release of a web-based training titled “Creating Co-Benefits Through Hazard Mitigation Planning and Water Resource Management.” This training, developed with review and feedback from partners at FEMA, supports water quality and hazard mitigation professionals in integrating water quality issues, water resource management, and nature-based practices into state or local hazard mitigation plans (HMPs). Modules in this series can serve as training tools to help planners from both fields explore activities of mutual interest and benefit. Case studies and real-world examples show planners how to connect with water resource programs through hazard mitigation planning. They also help watershed planners understand the synergies between water resource plans and HMPs.
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Partner News
Stories of Resilience: Voices That Inspire
Do you have a story to tell? The RNPN wants to learn more about your journey toward climate resilience. Sharing your wins and challenges can help others learn from your experience. You can submit photos, video, audio, text, or art about your resilience journey.
Are you ready to share? Visit the Stories of Resilience: Voices that Inspire website for more information.
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SBP and Creation Justice Ministries: Faithful Preparedness, Faithful Resilience Webinar Series
Join SBP and Creation Justice Ministries to explore diverse facets of climate preparedness and resilience, rooted in a faith-based approach. From tools for climate care to fostering a culture of preparedness, engaging in the democratic process for climate resilience, and addressing mental health and disaster recovery, each webinar provides insights and resources to empower individuals and communities to weather the physical, social, and spiritual storms of the climate crisis.
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A recent National Academies workshop explored the challenges vulnerable communities face in mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, and strategies that can help overcome these challenges.
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3 Sided Cube: The Potential Impact of AI to Reduce the Risks of Disasters
3 Sided Cube is a digital product agency on a mission to change millions of lives for the better by building tech for good. They have a podcast series where they speak on how AI can be used in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and are getting ready to launch a survey for a report on the same topic.
The aim of this survey is to get a pulse on the use of artificial intelligence in forecasting, risk mitigation, preparedness, and response to disasters, which has the potential to change millions of lives for the better. A report will be generated to showcase the findings. Participants are surveying trailblazers, early adopters, and the AI curious in the DRR space. By joining forces, they can champion the use of big data and AI in DRR, encourage cooperation and widespread adoption to help save more lives.
3 Sided Cube intends to promote the key findings via a downloadable report, and by shouting from the highest mountaintops, their social platforms, YouTube, paid search, website—all the marketing channels. They will also share all assets with marketing teams for those participating and across the RNPN network to further spread the word.
Terrazia: The Resilient Design Collaborative
The Resilient Design Collaborative’s (RDC) mission is to work with the building design and construction community to promote and create sustainably resilient projects that resist, absorb, recover from, or successfully adapt to manmade and natural hazards. Participants in the collaborative developed a phased action plan to demonstrate how to educate project stakeholders, evaluate project risks, and prioritize resilient design performance goals.
- Action Plan 1: Organize a group or groups of architects and others to meet (virtually and/or in person) to discuss means and methods to implement appropriate resilient design strategies for their actual projects.
- Action Plan 2: Create a library of resilient design case studies for others to reference as examples to influence their project design efforts.
- Action Plan 3: Expand network of AEC professionals nationwide to collaborate and create resilient facilities that save money, improve people’s lives and ensure a sustainable future.
To learn more about the RDC please contact, Steve Sunderman steve@terrazia.com.
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New Resources
NOAA: High-Resolution Coastal Land Cover Data
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has high-resolution (1-meter) C-CAP data for the coastal U.S., including the entire state of Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories. This data provides valuable information for a range of local level applications such as, flood inundation mapping, stormwater management, heat risk, and more.
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US Department of Housing and Urban Development: Build for the Future Funding Navigator
The Funding Navigator, on HUD Exchange, helps users explore funding and technical assistance opportunities made available under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and other federal programs to support efforts to enhance climate resiliency, energy efficiency, renewable energy integration, healthy housing, workforce development, and environmental justice.
Infinite Blue: Polycrises on the Rise
Infinite Blue, the leader in total enterprise resilience solutions, released its 2024 Global Enterprise Resilience Report, which analyzes survey data, insights from thought leaders, and worldwide trends to help organizations prepare for an increasingly volatile threat environment.
In the report, Infinite Blue experts explore how greater levels of technological, social, and economic interconnectedness and climate change are colliding forces that will increase the prevalence to concurrent and cascading crises. The report highlights commonly missed opportunities that are leaving organizations and governments vulnerable to greater and more damaging risks. It also details strategies that enterprises can apply to rethink their resilience programs to more effectively address today’s challenges.
Argonne National Laboratory: The National Economic Resilience Data Explorer
The enhanced National Economic Research and Resilience Center NERDE portal provides users with insights into local economic distress, employment and gross domestic product, local industry clusters, climate risk and innovation to help inform economic development and resilience planning.
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Bowie State University Spotlight on Energy Poverty Scorecard
Over a 12-week sprint, a dedicated team of computer technology majors from Bowie State University, including Medina Daiyaan, Stephanie Nelson, Alivia Ross, Mayla Dodson, Dajah Gordon, and Raheem Osumah, worked diligently on a new initiative—the Energy Poverty Scorecard.
The project's main goal was to distill complex data into a user-friendly scorecard accessible to government officials and the public. The Energy Poverty scorecard aims to identify areas of improvement and raise awareness about energy poverty challenges across states.
The team approached the project with a data-centric mindset, leveraging their expertise in data science research. Despite facing initial challenges with unfamiliar large datasets, the collaboration with the Department of Energy allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of the data and its nuances.
The Energy Poverty Scorecard offers valuable insights into each state's performance. Looking ahead, the team plans to apply artificial intelligence to streamline the ranking process by comparing multiple datasets.
Waterfront Alliance Launches WEDG Version 3.0
This past fall, Waterfront Alliance launched WEDG Version 3.0, the gold standard for waterfront design at every scale. WEDG guides project teams on how to develop and protect resilient coastlines and shorelines against accelerating climate change impacts.
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MotherToBaby: Your Partner in Resilience During Pregnancy and Lactation
MotherToBaby provides evidence-based information about exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, including free risk assessments and informational resources such as fact sheets and access to studies for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding during and after natural hazard events. MotherToBaby experts answer questions from healthcare providers and the public about a variety of exposures (including medications, chemicals, infections, and vaccines) by phone, chat, text, and email at no cost.
During natural hazards such as hurricanes and wildfires, people who are pregnant and breastfeeding often have questions about how disaster-related exposures can affect their pregnancies or breastfeeding children. MotherToBaby recent blogs cover common exposure-related questions during wildfire and hurricane season.
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FEMA: Guide to Expanding Mitigation: Making the Connection to Faith-Based Partners
FEMA recently released the Guide to Expanding Mitigation, Making the Connection to Faith-Based Partners, to help hazard mitigation, community planning and emergency managers engage with faith-based organizations during the planning process. This valuable resource outlines the benefits of working with these groups and shares strategies for building strong relationships and resilient communities. It also enhances effective and efficient recovery strategies across the nation by helping emergency managers empower communities to build local capacity that helps them withstand tomorrow’s hazards.
Working alongside faith-based organizations allows mitigation professionals to join with local, state, tribal nation, and territorial leaders to reach a wider audience. Those leading and serving in faith-based organizations who want to learn more about how to protect their communities by reducing the disaster risks experienced in their community may find the guide useful.
The guide is part of a series highlighting innovative and emerging partnerships for mitigation. It shows how communities can support hazard mitigation projects and planning by engaging the whole community. Go to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Best Practices Library to learn more about hazard mitigation.
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FEMA: Fact Sheet on Art & Culture
FEMA published the Fact Sheet on Art and Culture: Helping People Before, During, and After Disasters to promote awareness of the intersection of art, emergency management and community resilience. The fact sheet highlights resources to support artists, cultural institutions, and the art community in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery to build resilience through their unique vision and skills.
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Island Press: Free e-book Resilience Matters: Flourishing in an Era of Extremes
The free e-book, Resilience Matters: Flourishing in an Era of Extremes, is a compilation of 50 hopeful and life-affirming articles written by leading experts in climate justice and adaptation, environmental health, and sustainable communities.
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