Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (13)
Similar to Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability, & Education: Creating a Sustainable Georgetown for All
Similar to Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability, & Education: Creating a Sustainable Georgetown for All (20)
More from ESD UNU-IAS
More from ESD UNU-IAS (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability, & Education: Creating a Sustainable Georgetown for All
- 1. RCE Georgetown Transforming Education and Community Pamela L. Martin plmartin@coastal.edu Maeve Snyder msnyder@belle.baruch.sc.edu
- 3. We already are a UN designated site • UN Man and Biosphere Reserve for the Atlantic Southeast (including the Hobcaw Barony Reserve and the National Estuarine Research Reserve), • Part of the third-largest watershed on the East Coast • Possesses the largest river delta on the East Coast.
- 4. Our Local Mission • The Georgetown Sustainability Coalition (GSC) vision is to develop Georgetown County by protecting its vast natural resources, unique heritage, and rich cultural diversity into a community with a thriving economy that eliminates poverty and provides jobs at a living wage to an educated workforce with skills for the 21st Century. Utilizing its natural resources as the pillars for economic development, the county, as a part of this effort, will grow a dynamic economy where thriving societal collaboration will sustain its natural and cultural assets for today’s generation and protect them for generations to come.
- 6. The Purpose of the UN RCE • Dialog • Coordination • Collaboration • Local initiatives for challenges that face us all • Making Georgetown a model of resilient growth and development, inclusive and multi-stakeholder oriented
- 7. How can we be more resilient in the face of recent disasters? • A focus on flooding and sea level rise • How does resilience improve our economic development, preserve our communities and way of life, and protect our natural resources for today and for tomorrow’s generations?
- 9. SC and Flooding • Sea level rise 1-1.5 inches each decade • Beach erosion, lowland flooding, coastal flooding • 1-4 ft prediction of sea level rise over next century • Increased precipitation in SE by 27% since 1958 • Wetlands convert to open water – threatening species • Higher storm surges due to sea level rise
- 12. Flood Projections • NOAA predictions on medium 50% chance of above historic flooding at Spring Maid Pier, Myrtle Beach • At NOAA’s slow sea level rise scenario, standard water levels rise from 1-10 ft above the high tide line. • 4-9 feet can be viewed as reasonable this century above high tide line • SC has 800 miles of land at less than 4 ft above sea level – Charleston and Georgetown make up ½ of that land mass • In SC, this affects $60 billion in property at or below 9 ft mark • Impacts at 4 ft or lower are: 13 schools, 33 churches, 3 hospitals, 76 EPA hazardous waste sites/wastewater generators
- 18. Social Impacts • Insurance rates • Lifestyle • Business revenue • Lost days in school – 15 this year for the hurricane and flooding • Infrastructure damage • Home damage • Corn yields down with increased storms • Soy, cotton, wheat and peanut crops threatened
- 20. Social Vulnerability • 6800 people in SC at or below 4ft • 25,000 people in SC at or below 9 ft. • This variable is defined as: • Family structure constraints, language barriers, vehicle availability, medical disability, healthcare access
- 24. Office of Homeland Security and FEMA Community Resilience Data Housing Condition
- 25. Health Care
- 30. Is this our Future?
- 31. 95% growth in county since 1970 +31,740
- 32. 620 % growth on Waccamaw Neck since 1970 +19,470
- 33. PROJECTION FOR WACCAMAW NECK IN 2030 +10,000 PEOPLE, 45% GROWTH
- 34. Waccamaw Neck Traffic Data Counter 1990 2000 2010 2015 119 17,700 30,800 30,400 34,800 121 16,600 33,300 32,400 37,100
- 35. NOAA grant for Climate Change and Flooding • Georgetown Climate Adaptation Project • $100,000 • MIT Consensus Building Institute • National Estuarine Research Reserve • University of South Carolina • Coastal Carolina University • 18 months
- 37. GCAP Role Play Simulation • Concept • 6 roles and a scenario • Based on downscaled data and 40 interviews • Lowering anxiety and tension through roles • Negotiation period with solutions • Discussion • Debriefing • Pre and post surveys • Qualitative notes
- 38. The Scenario • With the data and projections in hand, the County has convened a small, representative group of stakeholders to prioritize the projects in the Comprehensive Plan that will reduce risks from flooding and help the community be more sustainable overall. If this group can agree on the top three priority projects, and the County leadership supports those recommendations, the County will be in a strong position to receive federal funds that depend on demonstrated community buy-in for high-priority projects.
- 39. The Stakeholders • Riverway County Director of Sustainability • Mayor of Byways (a rural town in northwestern Riverway County) • Superintendent of Schools • Executive Director, City of Maurens Business Alliance • Small Business Owner, Artist, Environmental Activist (and Gullah Geechee) • Eastern Island beach property owner (and former council member for small town on Eastern Island)
- 40. Engaging our Youth in Planning for Resilient Communities
- 41. UN Global Youth Corps
Editor's Notes
- What We said we’d say: As coastal cities and towns face increased risk from sea level rise and flooding, the RCE Georgetown, a newly established RCE in South Carolina, USA, has begun work on this important issue. In the past 18 months, our county has experienced evacuation-level flooding three times, causing loss of pertinent infrastructure and school learning days, health and safety issues, business challenges and profit losses, and ecosystem impacts. In an effort to educate our community while working together to be resilient in the face of challenges we know will continue, the UN RCE Georgetown organized a university course that trained students to facilitate role play simulations in our community to get a better sense of issues and needs. Following that, community public and private leaders have broken down into task forces to review infrastructure, mitigation, and education issues. This case study presentation will describe how we began the stakeholder engagement process from planning, application, designation, and into the future to explore challenges and lessons learned in fostering community ownership of the work of the RCE, while integrating transformative learning. This case will also describe how the efforts of the RCE hope to drive local policy and decision-making changes in our community with clear examples of early objectives and products, as well as resource funding mechanisms we have engaged. Additionally, we will describe how our efforts contribute to improving the following Sustainable Development Goals: Life on Land (15), Clean water and Sanitation (5), Good Health and Well-Being (3), Decent work and Economic Growth (8), and finally Sustainable Cities and Communities (11). We will link these goals to an assessment of coastal resilience in Georgetown County and examine the challenges and opportunities the UN RCE process provides our small coastal community in the face scientifically verified probable storms, sea level rise, flooding that impact our way of life, our economy, and our Atlantic ecosystem.