Tidal flooding is shown in Downtown Jacksonville during a recent hurricane. | City of Jacksonville
Published on October 23, 2024 at 4:16 pm
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Jacksonville has been honored with the American Planning Association’s National Planning Award for its year-old resiliency strategy.
The award recognizes a community that has taken exemplary steps to enhance its ability to adapt to environmental shocks and stresses. The association specifically praised what it called Resilient Jacksonville‘s “innovative and comprehensive approach to resilience planning at multiple scales.”
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The city’s 50-year resilience strategy was introduced one year ago, with 45 policies and programs designed for specific neighborhoods facing the effects of heat, flooding and other issues. The award honors the impact that plan has and will have, said Anne Coglianese, the city’s first chief resilience officer.
“I think this is really a vote of confidence from our peers that Jacksonville is playing a leadership role in advancing the field of resilience and specifically resiliency planning with an eye toward incorporating science and data into decision making at the local level,” Coglianese told Jacksonville Today. “We are really proud of the plan we put out, but to have this vote of confidence from our peers, I think really signals that we are on the right track.”
Coglianese became the city’s first chief resilience officer in 2021. Her department and the city launched Resilient Jacksonville on Oct. 13, 2023.
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The city’s strategy is able to adapt in the face of sudden, extreme events that threaten its communities, as well as long-term pressures that weaken a community’s fabric over time.
In the first year alone, the city has implemented 38 of the 45 actions, a one-year update said.
One action provides for the city and experts to develop a compound flood model to measure the combined impacts of coastal surge, tidal fluctuations, riverine flooding and inland stormwater flooding.
“The model will provide Jacksonville with the most advanced flood data in the country, identify the most flood-prone areas of the city, and guide project development,” the update states.
Another is working with the Planning Department to update city land development regulations to incorporate resilience, encouraging development in areas that are most prepared to accommodate population growth safely.
The city also is developing its first Urban Forestry Management Plan to guide the protection and expansion of Jacksonville’s tree canopy to shade more areas that face high heat.
“Through its grounded, science-based approach and collaborative process, Resilient Jacksonville creates a stronger and safer future for the city,” association awards jury chairperson Emily Liu said in a statement. “This dynamic strategy successfully identified key characteristics that will enhance resilience across Jacksonville’s vast landscape, addressing not only shoreline risks but also the diverse challenges faced by this expansive city.”
Mayor Donna Deegan said city officials are proud of the “innovative approach and the hard work” their staff dedicated to this effort. She said in a statement that it is vital that staff work together with all residents and businesses to achieve a resilient future for Jacksonville.
Coglianese’s resiliency office has applied for grants in her three-year tenure to help fund its programs. She said she hopes the award tells people there is something new and interesting happening in this part of the country.
“I really hope that Jacksonville can become a model framework for how other communities start adapting,” she said. “If it helps us get grants, fabulous. But I also think that the learning role that we can play with our partner cities will be huge.”
The award announcement comes just days before a panel discussion Tuesday evening with local leaders about city and regional efforts to prepare Northeast Florida for the effects of climate change.
ADAPT, part of Jacksonville Today, is partnering with Jacksonville’s Environmental Protection Board to present Regional Resilience in Action, the latest updates on local and regional resilience efforts and how citizens can participate in them. The panel discussion will starat at 6 p.m. at WJCT Studios at 100 Festival Park Ave.
Panelists include Coglianese as well as St. Augustine Chief Resilience Officer Jessica Beach, Jacksonville Sustainability Manager Ashantae Green, and Northeast Florida Regional Council CEO Elizabeth Payne. The event will be moderated by Jacksonville Today editor Jessica Palombo.
More information is available here.
