From Building Resilient Infrastructure to Facilitating Resilient Communities

Abstract

This research paper considers the Greater Rockaway Community and Shoreline Enhancement Plan as a new paradigm for the community stewardship of a resiliency project focused on addressing the impacts of the climate crisis and economic inequity. While there are many examples of parks and public spaces that are stewarded by local organizations, this plan represents a multi-dimensional effort that is focused on community stewardship, resiliency, education and workforce development opportunities across many land jurisdictions and uses. The plan focuses on local resiliency gained through planting beachgrasses and other plant species along the Atlantic shoreline and dunes in an effort to maintain the dune system that protects the Rockaways from flooding, storm surge, and erosion. This paper will examine the efforts to develop this model, including a literature review of community stewardship models, profiles of the key actors and the ecosystem of organizations that have been required for this endeavor, and the process these organizations have taken to create this new paradigm through a multi-year planning project.