Chief Resiliency Officer Shaun O’Rourke Drives Resiliency Discussion throughout Rhode Island

Through a series of community-driven roundtable discussions, the Infrastructure Bank’s Shaun O’Rourke continues to foster an open dialogue on Rhode Island’s climate resiliency challenges as the State’s first Chief Resiliency Officer. Partnering with local hosts, RIIB has facilitated seven “Resiliency Roundtables” and plans to hold an additional three events in the coming weeks. Each event has served as a unique window into the differing resiliency challenges of different areas of the State.

                                                               

To date, more than 225 community leaders have participated in the roundtable discussions. Common themes throughout the discussion have begun to emerge, including the need to better understand what climate adaptation work has been done to date and how a statewide strategy can incorporate these prior findings.

“The variety of input from coastal and inland communities has been helpful in generating a statewide set of resiliency priorities,” O’Rourke notes. Within the municipalities, common concerns include the vulnerability of drinking water supplies and the need for greater coordination across state agencies and municipalities to address these issues. Concerns about rising sea levels, beach erosion, marshland migration on the coast, drought, and decreased forest heath have also been discussed.

O’Rourke is evolving the approach to each Resiliency Roundtable based on feedback received. As a result, he is working with local hosts to compile a list of research reports, studies, and projects completed in the target geography to help inform roundtable participants as they prioritize and identify key resiliency themes and resources needed. The information and data received will be used to develop a methodology for prioritizing resiliency trends and needs.

The next meetings are listed below and details on future meetings will be available at www.climatechange.ri.gov.

December 6 (4:00PM – 6:00PM) - Audubon Society Environmental Education Center - 1401 Hope St, Bristol (Barrington, Bristol, Warren)

December 7 (12:30pm – 2:00pm) – New Shoreham Town Hall, 16 Old Town Rd, New Shoreham