Steps to Resilience Overview

Following the Steps, communities iteratively

• form a group to explore local climate issues
• list their community assets—the things they want to protect
• determine which assets could be harmed by climate-related hazards
• investigate possible solutions
• make plans to address their greatest concerns, and
• take action to implement their plans

Visit any page of the Steps to Resilience content for detailed information and access to Practitioner's Guide resources. These resources include worksheets, forms, and templates commonly used by professional climate adaptation consultants. 

Community Champions

Committed leaders who are concerned about climate and know how to get things done in their communities.

Community champions usually have a track record of getting things done. They can use the steps as a roadmap to help them manage a resilience-building process. 

Planners

Consultants or policymakers who develop and update official planning documents.

Most municipalities, counties, and states are required to prepare and submit regular updates to official planning documents. Leveraging community engagements for preparing these documents can be an efficient way to integrate climate concerns into future plans.

Conservation Groups

People who work together to protect a natural system or historic structure.

Communities often coalesce around an asset they want to protect. The first step for these groups is to explore the weather and climate-related hazards that could impact that asset.

Government Champions

Individuals who are elected, appointed, or employed by a government entity to address sustainability or develop plans such as a climate action plan or a hazard mitigation plan.

Government champions work for the people their offices represent. Champions within the government use the steps to lead a process to protect people and assets from climate-related hazards. 

Climate-service practitioners

Individuals or groups who work with communities—often as consultants—to assess and address climate-related vulnerability and risk.

Practitioners have expertise in climate and in risk management; they can help a community document its climate-related hazards and produce a climate action plan. Learn more in Implementing the Steps to Resilience: A Practitioner's Guide »
 

Are you confronting a weather or climate-related problem?

If you're already aware of a climate-related hazard that could occur in your community, you can start your resilience journey by listing the people, places, and services that could be damaged by that hazard. Later, you'll explore additional hazards that could affect your assets.

Are you eager to protect an asset you care about?

People often form communities around an asset they want to protect. For example, dozens of business owners might join a "Downtown Association" to promote and protect their shops. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts, wildlife conservationists, and sportsmen might join together to form a "Friends of the River" group. Asset-centered groups can further their common goals by exploring the weather and climate-related hazards that could impact the asset they care about.

Are you creating or updating an official planning document?

In order to be eligible for federal and state programs, municipalities, counties, and states are required to prepare and submit regular updates to official planning documents such as Hazard Mitigation Plans. Leveraging community engagements required for these updates to add climate considerations to planning documents is an efficient way to move plans forward and integrate climate resilience into future plans.
 

The Steps to Resilience framework is compatible with other climate adaptation processes. Whichever framework you follow, effective resilience-building will require you to evaluate exposure, vulnerability, and risk from climate-related impacts, and integrate the results with other considerations before setting priorities, developing plans, and implementing projects.

Access a PDF comparing the Steps to Resilience to other adaptation frameworks

• Kresge Foundation 
  Preparing for Climate Impacts: Lessons from the Front Lines
• University of Oxford 
  United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme
• Oxfam America and Acclimatise 
  Value Chain Climate Resilience: A Guide to Managing Climate Impacts in Companies and Communities
• FEMA and California Agencies 
  California Adaptation Planning Guide: Planning for Adaptive Communities
• ICLEI 
  Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional, and State Governments
• USDOT Federal Highway Administration 
  Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Framework, 3rd Edition
• CAKE/Ecoadapt 
  Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange
• For definitions and examples of words related to resilience, access the Steps to Resilience Glossary.