Resilience Innovation Incubator for Cascadia Coastal Hazards

In two pilot study use cases this project will explore assessment of and solutions to coastal hazards such as landslides, coastal erosion, and flooding. Broadly defined, the initial portfolio of four solution spaces address both chronic and acute coastal hazards, as well as their interactions; (a) natural and nature-based solutions (inclusive of field testing, simulations, modeling); (b) solutions for increasing community resilience grounded in assessing community assets, adaptive capacity, and alternatives; (c) community modeling solutions (hyper localized, assimilating existing data) that focus on the assessment and communication of risk and hazard science, and of knowledge across epistemological differences; and (d) solutions based on multi-hazard planning and decision support tools, in which the project will engage new technological platforms and partners.

The incubator leverages years of regionally relevant Earth system science co-developed with communities to advance understanding of the four types of solutions explored. The project aims to 1) understand what solutions and engagement approaches to decide on solutions are most effective for reducing risk and enhancing community resilience to coastal hazards and 2) understand how these solutions/approaches can best be shared and how implementation can be promoted widely across the region and the nation. This effort leverages regional science and data integration across disciplines to identify hazard risks and model impact scenarios at a local level; a critical translational science lens to ensure practical utility of outputs and results, and a community-engaged and community-driven methodological approach that centers the experiences and priorities of local populations to drive solutions.