The application of ASERT on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is in support of The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (The RAFT). The goal of The RAFT is to help Virginia’s coastal localities improve resilience to flooding and other coastal storm hazards while remaining economically and socially viable.
- The RAFT is a “full service” tool to assist coastal localities to increase their resilience. Coastal resilience is the capacity to anticipate threats, reduce the community’s vulnerability, respond to, and recover from hazardous events and chronic stresses. A community can be vulnerable not only due to their physical location and infrastructure, but also due to social factors with the community, such as access to transportation or medical fragility. A resilient community is one that is able to adapt, endure, and thrive in the face of change, uncertainty and adversity – from being prepared for hurricanes to having policies that encourage appropriate land uses in the flood zone. To build resilience, localities need capacities in the areas of emergency management, infrastructure, planning, policy, and community well-being.
- The RAFT was conceived and developed by an academic interdisciplinary collaborative, the “Core Team,” led by the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation (IEN), the Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC) at William & Mary Law School, and Old Dominion University/ Virginia Sea Grant (ODU).
- More info about The RAFT.