Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities

LaDon Swann, Director NOAA’s Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and

Auburn University Marine Center

Nine Consortium Members

USM is fiscal host.

Sea Grant Focus Areas

• Safe and Sustainable Seafood Supply

• Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities

• Sustainable Coastal Development

• Healthy Coastal Ecosystems

Yearly, more people die from this natural hazard than

all others combined

1. Hurricanes2. Lightening3. Earthquakes4. Tornadoes5. Heat6. Tsunamis7. Volcanoes

Question One• How does your organization communicate the

health and social impacts of natural and man-made disasters, including those that may be associated with changes in climate? What should that communication include?– MASGC communicates directly to constituent groups

and our messages are grounded in the most credible science available.

– MASGC uses community based social marketing– Regional Climate Community of Practice (CoP)

Hazard Resilient Coastal Communities

A Community of Practice is a group of professionals who aim to achieve common outcomes. By working together, they can learn from one another and develop a set of effective common approaches that can be refined over time.

Question Two• What mitigation or adaptation strategies should be

adopted by health and social service agencies, in collaboration with other agencies involved in emergency response and/or coastal resilience?– Peer Listening for mental health issues

• Everyone needs it during a time of crisis• Everyone needs it to help mitigate against the longer term

repercussions from a disaster.

– Medical screening for at-risk groups– Long-term longitudinal studies using a suite of well-being

indicators

Question Three• How should the health and social aspects of coastal

community resilience be measured– Million dollar question…..– The answer should be determined by a diverse group of people and

led by health professionals– The metrics may not always be the ones that are routinely collected,

but they serve as a very good starting point• What are the best indicators of well-being?

– Mental health metrics are, in my opinion, too often overlooked– Metrics should have a historical baseline so far comparisons can be

made• Measuring PAHs, for example, were little more than a snapshot in time

because there was little historical data from our region

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Social Networks

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Socio-Economic Valuation

Pol

icy

Act

ions

Non-policy Driven FactorsAdvocacy Groups

NGOs/INGOsNot-for-profit Organizations

Decision Support

Policy-Driven FactorsEnvironmental Regulation

Economic Regulation and ReformSocial Programs

Access to servicesAltruism

Clean environmentEconomic growth

Ecosystem conditionEducation

HealthLeisure time

Life satisfaction/ happinessNutrition

Public InfrastructureSafety and security

ShelterSocial cohesion

Spiritual and cultural fulfillmentTopophilia and biophilia

Wealth

Well-Being Domains

Freedom and Choice

Ecosystem ServicesWater Quality Regulation

Air Quality RegulationNatural Hazard Protection

Food & Fiber Recreation and AestheticsAtmospheric Regulation

Soil & Sediment Quality RegulationPest & Disease RegulationWater Quantity Regulation

Social ServicesHealthcare

Public HealthFinancial Assistance

Family ServicesActivismJusticeLabor

Claimed Civil LibertiesEmergency Preparedness

EducationPublic Works

CommunicationCommunity & Faith Based Initiatives

Economic ServicesLabor MarketStabilization

Government BudgetInterest Rates

Redistribution of Income

State of the Economy

Social Conditions

Good governance

SocietalWelfare

Human Well-being

Societal

Well-being

Environmental

Well-being

Economic

Well-being

Subjective Well-being

Basic Human Needs

State of the Environment

Smith, L.M. et al. 2011. Ecosystem services and human well-being: Integrating existing measures of well-being into a conceptual framework. In �review. Ecology and Society.

Maslow's Hierarchy of NeedsCan everything be distilled down to this?

“Normal” Person’s Interpretation

EverythingElse

Seafood

Resilient HomeInsurance

Curry

Sleep Water

Whiskey