Courtney Wright

Patel College of Global Sustainability & Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council .courtneyannw@usf.edu

Mary-Liz Estrada

Patel College of Global Sustainability & Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council .mestrada4@usf.edu

Abstract

Resiliency and Climate Action Plans are very helpful tools for municipal departments to formulate localized plans while also informing and engaging the public of city or county government goals. The major focus of this research is to dissect and organize a regional resiliency plan for readability and incorporate a new perspective involving equity, Sustainable Development Goals, and U.S. Green Building Council principles that were not included in the original plan. Other tasks revolved around adding co-benefits and topic tags to each action, to better assist organizing partners in finding goals that aligned with their organization or institution. The Regional Resiliency Action Plan that was produced by TBRPC was aimed to assist municipalities with a climate and resiliency goal framework. Through multiple sessions of input from stakeholders such as non-profits, local industries, NGOs, and municipalities, the TBRPC was able to compile feedback to formulate and revise goals, objectives, and actions. The development of these regional resiliency action plans is beneficial for the public and stakeholders to understand and better inform policy planning on the local level. The outcome of this Regional Resiliency Action Plan has still not been finalized as it is going through several revisions, both the public and internally. A major takeaway from this project is that within these regional resiliency plans it can be difficult to include and incorporate every topic that intersects with resiliency and climate change that pleases the public and all stakeholder entities.

Keywords: Regional Resilience Action Plan, municipalities, policy, SDGs