Planning
On July 9, principal regional planner Kyle Pimental participated in a virtual brainstorming workshop to generate innovative state-level public policy alternatives to strengthen New Hampshire’s resilience to sea-level rise and other coastal hazards. The workshop is part of a larger project, entitled “
Keeping New Hampshire’s Coast Afloat: Creative Financing & Policy Making for Resilient Coastal Communities,”
which is being led by Benjamin Sweeny, NOAA Coastal Fellow and seeks to facilitate a collaborative process to explore, evaluate, and advance state-level policies that support on-the-ground resilience and adaptation efforts in coastal New Hampshire.
For this workshop, Kyle was one of several notetakers that participated in the breakout rooms. Kyle’s group touched upon shifts in funding priorities, how state agencies can provide additional technical assistance to municipalities, barriers to land acquisition, and long-term scenario planning for New Hampshire’s coastline.
Kyle has also served on an advisory team tasked with helping guide the development of resilience policy recommendations for the state’s legislature. A short, draft list of policy options has been developed with assistance from the advisory team. This workshop was to engage a larger audience to ensure that whatever policies are recommended have been well vetted by a variety of stakeholders. Next steps will be to compile and organize a final list of options and to analyze them for feasibility.
Pieces of Interest
