Demonstration

Demonstration

The ASERT demonstration project was located in Little Creek and Pretty Lake neighborhoods that spanned two cities (Norfolk and Virginia Beach) and a federal facility (Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base).

The project was funded by the blue moon fund as demonstration project for the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise and Preparedness Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project.

In the demonstration project, the ASERT framework was operationalized as a focus group that engages stakeholders in facilitated conversation that informs and educates stakeholders about adaptation strategies and generating action-relevant knowledge for building community resilience.

The focus group includes:

  • Information and participatory mapping components (using weTable)
  • In-depth qualitative discussion of adaptation actions including feasibility and barriers
  • Use of audio response system (ARS) clickers to evaluate and prioritize issues emerging from discussion

Four ASERT focus groups were held from March through July 2016 in neutral locations such as community centers, senior centers, and public libraries.

ASERT demonstration project participants identifying community assets and challenges using the weTable.

ASERT demonstration project participants interacted with a Google Map and identified community assets (left image), and then determined how SLR and flooding scenarios affect these community assets (right image shows scenario of 1 ft of SLR plus surge from a historical storm).