Fostering University Collaboration and Building Capacity to Respond to Coastal Resilience Challenges in Virginia: Findings from the Rotating Resilience Roundtables Workshop Spring 2019

[from Background and Overview] Communities in coastal Virginia, particularly in the urban region of Hampton Roads and the rural Eastern Shore peninsula, are experiencing the impacts of climate change as part of everyday life. Among the most apparent impacts are sea level rise and associated flooding, but increasingly residents of the region are observing changing ecosystems, health impacts and complex social challenges are made more difficult. The region is experiencing the fastest rate of relative sea level rise on the U.S. east coast due to interactions between ocean currents, global sea level rise, high-water tables and ground subsidence (Adapt Virginia 2019; Atkinson et al. 2013). Emergency managers are having to deal with more severe storms due to increased intensity of rainfall (Smirnov 2017). While building resilience to sea level rise and flooding has become an important priority for many local governments in Hampton Roads, the Commonwealth has also recognized the importance of coastal resilience, and in 2018 appointed Rear Admiral Ann Phillips as Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection. As local, regional and state-wide governments plan for climate change, universities will play a key role in the integration of intellectual capacities and knowledge to address coastal resilience in the Commonwealth