Faculty are invited to participate in the 2018 Rotating Resilience Roundtables that will be held on Virginia Tech’s campus in Blacksburg, VA, on October 11 & 12, 2018 (Thursday afternoon and Friday morning). If you are interested in what is going on in our coastal zone this will be a great opportunity to interact with stakeholders from Hampton Roads area in person and in a small group setting.

Please RSVP to confirm your attendance using the following link: 2018 Resilience Roundtables sign up

The event is co-organized between the Coastal@VT initiative at Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University/Virginia Sea Grant Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program. It is designed to respond to the need for a cohesive and policy-relevant science that will align and coordinate efforts between the diverse range of stakeholders to benefit the Commonwealth’s resilience and adaptation to changing conditions in coastal zone. The roundtable’s aim is to facilitate knowledge exchange and research collaborations to strengthen the statewide capacity to address coastal resilience issues in an integrated and inclusive manner. The roundtables concept is selected to support the active engagement with different coastal themes and challenges, as well as to stimulate problem identification, critical thinking, and alignment between issues and research.

This first event in a planned series of roundtables is envisioned to be semi-structured and allow for active interactions and knowledge exchange via traditional presentations, strategic networking, and small roundtable discussions. The desired outcome will be a development of a position paper that will recognize the need to collaborate and synchronize capacities between different entities working on coastal resilience.

Please see the schedule below and do not hesitate to let  Michelle Covi (co-organizer) and Anamaria Bukvic know should you have any questions about this event.

SCHEDULE:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11

2:30 pm – Introduction

3-6 pm – Presentations

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12

9-11 am – Roundtables

11am – 1pm – Collaborative position statement

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 (optional)

9 am – 1pm : Walk and talk meeting, Hike to the Cascades (weather permitting)

GUESTS INCLUDE:

Old Dominion University

  • Michelle Covi (co-organizer, Virginia Sea Grant Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program)
  • Tom Allen (Geography)
  • Carol Considine (Engineering)

William & Mary

  • Sarah Stafford (Professor of Economics and Director of W&M Public Policy)

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

  • Molly Mitchell (Marine Scientist, Center for Coastal Resources Management)

Wetlands Watch NGO

  • Skip Stiles (Executive Director)
  • Shereen Hughes (Assistant Director)

Hampton Roads Planning District Commission

  • Ben McFarlane (Senior Regional Planner)
  • Ashley Gordon (Coastal Analyst)

Local government

  • David Imburgia (Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Department of Community Development, the City of Hampton)
  • Kyle Spencer (Deputy Resilience Officer, the City of Norfolk)

Emergency Management

  • Robb Braidwood (Deputy Coordinator of Emergency Services, the City of Chesapeake)