Protecting Communities With Coastal Resilience Projects

The climate crisis is impacting coastlines across the globe, with communities facing threats from rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events. In response, teams are launching projects to mitigate risks and build resilience. We discuss this with:

Swarna Kazi, senior disaster risk management specialist, World Bank, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Ignacio Urrutia, senior disaster risk management specialist, World Bank, Bangkok: Kazi and Urrutia discuss a project that aims to bolster sections of Bangladesh’s coastline, how considering risk at all stages of the project helps them create a cohesive strategy, and how the challenges they faced will influence their approaches to future coastal resilience projects.

Catherine McCandless, climate change and environmental planning project manager, City of Boston Environment Department, Boston: McCandless talks about leading coastal resilience planning projects for two neighborhoods in Boston, how her team adapted community engagement during the pandemic, and how she and fellow project managers work together to manage not only multidisciplinary stakeholders but also team members.

Key themes

[01:19] Projects around the world aim to mitigate effects of climate change on coastlines

[05:25] Stakeholder management: Using data and community input in project planning

[09:26] Tackling a changing environment and futureproofing coastal resilience projects in Bangladesh

[13:41] Planning coastal resilience efforts for Boston’s 47-mile shoreline

[17:57] Adapting and digitizing community engagement during COVID-19

[19:44] Managing multidisciplinary stakeholders and project team members