Title,Recipient,Competition,"Fiscal Year","Award Number","Federal Funding","Principal Investigator",State,City,County,District,Lat/Long,"Grant Dates",Abstract,Partners "Community Resilience Informed by Science and Experience (C-RISE)","Gulf of Maine Research Institute","2015: ELG for Community Resilience to Extreme Weather Events and Environmental Changes",2015,NA15SEC0080006,"$499,181","Leigh Peake",Maine,Portland,Cumberland,ME01,"43.65178, -70.25633","2015-10-01T00:00:00 - 2019-09-30T00:00:00","The goal of Community Resilience Informed by Science and Experience (C-RISE) was to build the capacity of coastal communities to support resiliency planning and adaptation actions. To accomplish this the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) worked with an advisory group including representatives from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, Maine Geological Survey, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the cities of Portland and South Portland, Greater Portland Council of Governments, New England Environmental Finance Center, and Axiom Technologies to develop public programming that provided participants with knowledge of and access to local sea level rise data. This program, ""Preparing Coastal Communities for Sea Level Rise"" is a community education event that built participant knowledge in sea level rise science, future projections, and local impacts. Through visual presentations and facilitated discussions, GMRI brought regional relevancy to global climate data using local history and case studies of past flooding events. Using technology and peer discussions, GMRI staff provided participants with access to interactive data sets and maps that visualized the impacts of sea level rise and weather events on community resources like roads, parks, hospitals, schools, and other valued assets—and how climate projections will increase these impacts over time. Over the course of this grant, GMRI staff facilitated over 60 community events in over 30 coastal communities in Maine, reaching over 2,000 individuals. While many of the participants had heard about sea level rise and storm surge prior to this program, few had internalized what this meant for their own communities. Post-event surveys indicated that participants discussed flooding issues with their families, friends, and neighbors, further examined local sea level rise maps, and engaged with community decision-makers about resiliency planning. GMRI believes that strong and informed representation of citizens is vital to addressing climate challenges and resiliency actions. We continue to leverage this work through various projects as we collaborate with coastal communities to provide them with knowledge, skills, and tools needed to develop community-focused resilience plans for sea level rise.","NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM), City of South Portland, City of Portland, Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG), University of Southern Maine / New England Environmental Finance Center, Axiom Technologies, Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative, State of Maine (ME) Department of Environmental Protection, Island Institute, Maine Geological Survey, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, Nature Conservancy / Maine Field Office, Portland Society for Architecture, Upswell"