1. DELDOT TEAM PARTICIPATES IN CLIMATE WORKSHOP
On July 27, a group of DelDOT employees representing various divisions across the agency participated
in a Strategic Planning Workshop on Climate Change, Sustainability & Resilience for Transportation that
was facilitated by Silvana Croope, Brian XXXXX, Jim XXXXX, and our consultant partners from Jacobs
Engineering. A key focus of the workshop was the 19 ‘Climate Framework’ recommendations that
DelDOT has been tasked with accomplishing in order to address both the causes and consequences of
climate change per Governor Markell’s Executive Order 41 (EO41). Jim XXXXX began the workshop with
an overview of EO41, highlighting the focus areas – adaptation, flood avoidance, and mitigation – as well
as the progress that has been accomplished in each of these areas to date. Brian XXXXX followed Jim’s
presentation by providing an overview of how climate change, and DelDOT efforts to mitigate the
causes of climate change, may impact maintenance and operations. His presentation focused on
implications for workforce safety, facilities, and operations, including, for example, mowing operations,
snow and ice removal, and emergency operations. After Brian and Jim’s presentations, the Jacobs team
reviewed the Fact Sheets that were developed for each of DelDOT’s 19 Climate Framework
recommendations. The Fact Sheets include a description of each recommendation, current progress,
next steps, DelDOT stakeholders, strengths, challenges, and other considerations related to each
recommendation. After reviewing, discussing, and in some instances, revising the Fact Sheets per input
from the workshop participants, Silvana Croope ended the workshop with a presentation that looked
beyond climate change and expanded the discussion to include resilience and sustainability of the
transportation system. Silvana’s presentation focused on incorporating sustainability and resilience into
the strategic planning process and integrating these considerations into system operations and
management. Her presentation stressed the importance of utilizing data such as flood monitoring sites,
debris removal information, ITS monitoring systems for risk assessment, resilience, and sustainability
planning. Following the success of this initial workshop, the team gathered notes from the review of the
Climate Framework recommendation fact sheets, which will be updated and incorporated into the
Strategic Implementation Plan. Additional opportunities for input or questions include follow-up by
email, telephone and future meetings with individuals or small groups of stakeholders. The consultant
team will begin developing the strategic plan under the direction of and with input from the DelDOT PM
Team of Jim XXXXX, Silvana Croope, and Brian XXXXX.
Disclaimer: This news was copied and adjusted from the internal news sent out to employees of the
Delaware Department of Transportation and last names of the team were removed to respect option for
privacy. The Delaware Climate Framework is a published document that can be found in the web.