Background
LISS, in cooperation with ICLEI, the Connecticut DEEP, and the Town of Groton, and with support from the EPA’s Climate Ready Estuaries Program, developed a climate change preparedness plan for Groton, Connecticut. A three-part series of workshops was held to engage representatives from federal, state, and municipal governments in adaptation planning for the town. The aim of the project was to bring these stakeholders together to evaluate and advance understanding of Groton’s vulnerability to climate change and to collaboratively develop adaptation strategies to increase the Town’s resilience. Groton was selected as the focus for the project because the town had already taken steps toward advancing climate mitigation and adaptation; it offered a unique mix of federal, state, and municipal coastal climate change issues; and lessons learned would provide valuable guidance to and be replicable by other municipalities in the region.
Implementation
LISS proposed to and was funded by the Climate Ready Estuaries Program in 2009 to examine the division of responsibilities and roles between the federal, state, local, and private sectors in a climate preparedness plan from the perspective of Groton. The grant supported three workshops to train and educate government officials at all levels on their roles in climate change adaptation. The workshops focused on:
- The climate adaptation planning process and projected climate changes (local, regional, global);
- Identification of vulnerabilities from projected changes; and
- Identification of potential actions that could increase resilience in the face of projected changes.
Over 100 individuals from federal and state agencies, academia, private corporations, and residential groups, among others, attended the workshops.
Citation
Gregg, R. M. (2020). Coastal Adaptation Plan for the Town of Groton, Connecticut [Case study on a project of the Long Island Sound Study and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection]. Product of EcoAdapt's State of Adaptation Program. (Last updated June 2020)
This case study was originally published on the EcoAdapt Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange.
