Climate Ready Great Lakes Cities

Abstract

Rising out of the strategic alliance between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI), the motivating goal of this 13- month project was to create a more resilient Great Lakes region by fostering climate adaptation planning. NOAA and GLSLCI recognize that municipalities across the Great Lakes Region will suffer economic, structural, health, and other impacts under a changing climate, and will need to engage in adaptation planning in order to mitigate and minimize these losses. The problem this project seeks to address is to surmount challenges in building adaptive capacity in a governance environment that is multi-level, crossjurisdictional and resource-limited. Our team focused on showcasing the ongoing efforts of Great Lakes cities to move the region towards a more resilient future, and our deliverables were designed to fill critical information gaps that may hinder robust action. We provided a suite of multimedia decision support tools that: 1) Support city officials’ efforts to increase Great Lakes-specific climate literacy within their municipalities 2) Disseminate descriptive climate adaptation “best practices” among Great Lakes municipal officials