Working Together

Connecticut has been working to increase its coastal resiliency, recognizing that 60% of its population lives in coastal communities, and that it ranks second only to Florida on the eastern seaboard in exposure of vulnerable coastal assets.

The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation brings together scientists, engineers and designers, community leaders, and others to address increasing threats due to sea level rise and storms, and the state is helping communities throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties plan for improved coastal resiliency.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Fairfield partnered with The Nature Conservancy and the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments to run the first community resilience building workshops for the entire community of Fairfield.  The workshops identified vulnerabilities and strengths, and developed a prioritized resilience action plan for Fairfield to counteract foreseeable risks from flooding, extreme weather, and coastal change.  Similar workshops were held with more than 14 other municipalities in Fairfield County. In 2014, Fairfield and the nine other coastal municipalities were incorporated into a federal project known as the Regional Framework for Coastal Resilience in Southern Connecticut.