Climate Ready Infrastructure and Sensitive Sites Protocol (CRISSP)

Great Lakes cities are at different stages of preparedness for extreme weather associated with climate change.

The Climate Ready Infrastructure and Strategic Sites Protocol (CRISSP) protocol relies on available data and municipal staff’s own knowledge of their facilities and infrastructure to assess their assets’ vulnerability to extreme weather in a way that is both relatively quick and low-cost.

The CRISSP guides a municipality through a step-by-step process to assemble a team; gather relevant information on hazards and climate data; identify municipal infrastructure, facilities, and sites located in extreme weather hazard zones; and perform a vulnerability assessment on them. A key aspect of the CRISSP is a helpful, easy-to-use Risk Matrix tool that takes users through a series of critical questions to assess the vulnerability of municipal facilities, sites, or infrastructure.