In the San Diego region, like others across California, we are already witnessing the impacts of climate change with more extreme coastal flooding, wildfires, heat and drought. No one city or public agency can face these challenges alone. By working together from a shared understanding of the risks we face with coastal flooding, we can be better prepared to take coordinated action in reducing our vulnerabilities. Many cities and public agencies are already trying out innovative approaches to enhance our ability to withstand more frequent shocks and stressors.
In July of 2020, the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) partnered to launch the “San Diego Coastal Exchange”–a series of targeted workshops with stakeholders from across the region and state agencies that reinvigorated regional dialogues on coastal resilience. During these workshops, the Climate Collaborative and RCC team worked with stakeholders to identify and define regional approach pathways that the region would like to see, the San Diego Region Coastal Resilience Roadmap was one of four strategies identified. The Climate Collaborative’s role is to support our region's needs and accelerate climate action; over the past two years in partnership with RCC and CivicWell, have worked together to bring this goal to life for our members and the region.
This project was designed to build the capacity of mobilized partners across the San Diego region in order to help build more connectivity between our coastal and inland communities to move the needle on implementation of new projects that build coastal resilience to climate impacts. Throughout development of this Roadmap, we adopted an equity-first approach to coastal resilience in which we acknowledge and seek to address how historical inequities connect to present-day climate change concerns; identify vulnerable populations across the San Diego region; and elevate opportunities that address starting-point vulnerabilities to climate hazards. This project was supported through funding from the California Ocean Protection Council’s Proposition 68 grant program.
Project Resources
San Diego Region Coastal Resilience Roadmap
The Roadmap is designed to serve as a dynamic document to facilitate and strengthen regional collaboration, motivating and inspiring coordinated ongoing action among regional partners. By aligning planning goals on a regional scale, this Roadmap aims to foster multi-jurisdictional resilience through coordinated planning that leads to high-impact initiatives and projects. Through 6 Principles, 30 Goals, and 76 specific Actions, this Roadmap aims to amplify tangible opportunities to implement aligned multi-benefit projects that address our region’s most urgent shocks and stresses. This Roadmap is grounded in equity, with an approach that considers the region’s holistic social-ecological coastal system and fosters a regional capacity to transform and become more resilient.
Actions Database
The Action Database will be utilized to track our collective progress in advancing the Actions, Goals, and Principles of the Roadmap. SDRCC will share regular updates among partners and our collective success will require continued action and engagement among partners across the region. The Actions Database will serve as a living, implementation-oriented resource for resilience builders across the region, where practitioners and partners can learn more about efforts that may be ripe for scaling or replication, understand the best way to get involved, and build mutual support for aligned efforts. Over the next few months, we will be working to enhance the format and structure of the Actions Database which will include opportunities for partners to add new actions.
Tools for Accelerating Coastal Resilience: The Cost of Coastal Inaction in the San Diego Region.
This innovative Storymap aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of climate change on coastal health and emphasize the importance of the multiple benefits that prioritizing coastal resilience efforts provide the San Diego region. This toolkit provides users with access to local case studies, interactive maps, and foundational knowledge building resources on the climate impacts that affect our coastal region and communities. This multimedia resource features videos of local coastal resilience leaders as well as a database of existing resources for practitioners that support foundational knowledge-building, mapping and modeling, databases, and project building. The Tools & Research Database in this resource will be updated on a monthly basis to ensure users have access to new tools and supportive research.
Network Analysis
As an early step in developing the Roadmap, the team developed an analysis and surveyed regional actors to better understand the current and potential roles of key regional partners in building a more resilient coastal region. This Network Analysis helps to describe the connections between institutions, agencies and actors. Our goal in creating this analysis was to understand better how the region is organized, identify efficacies in collaborative partnerships and relationships, and illuminate any gaps in investment and planning. Ultimately, this work illuminated project and funding needs addressed in this regional Roadmap.
A Case for Regional Action
Taking regional action on climate change presents a number of challenges, including the same challenges faced at the local level, as well as unique challenges faced at the regional scale. Funding opportunities, while increasing in recent years, remain severely limited compared to the pace and scale of action required. Despite these challenges, the importance of regional action, coordination, and collaboration has never been clearer. This case study details the process of developing the San Diego Region Coastal Resilience Roadmap with particular attention to how this process can be replicated in other regions throughout California – for coastal resilience, as well as other climate impacts and community priorities.