Climate-Informed Planning

To advance weather and climate resilience efforts in South Texas, an area that is susceptible to flooding and extreme heat, SCIPP prioritized a bottom up approach to identify local needs by convening community organizations and local researchers for both a virtual (Fall 2024) and in person (Winter 2025) workshop. The workshop resulted in a portfolio of emerging project concepts. Portfolio projects included resilience hubs, a participatory mapping project focused on identifying unaddressed extreme heat and cold issues and flooding areas, and increasing local data collection to inform policy and funding applications. This work was used by local community groups in South Texas to inform grant applications, align organizational strategies, and support infrastructure and disaster planning efforts. Efforts to complete a story map are ongoing. Progress is being made toward publishing a journal article.

The Simple Planning Tool for Climate Hazards has been transformed from four individual PDFs to a fully online interface. This 2.0 version is still tailored to each of the four SCIPP states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. This interactive online interface includes both expandable menu items throughout the page and a side menu that allow users to access the content quickly and easily. SCIPP can also update the tool in a more timely manner and more easily add content as we learn of new stakeholder needs.

The goal of this research is to quantify favorable locations for oyster aquaculture along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, then determine if those suitable locations are projected to change given climate change.

SCIPP developed the PDF versions of the Simple Planning Tool for Texas and Louisiana Climate Hazards. These tools were patterned off the Oklahoma and Arkansas versions that were developed a few years ago. Since completing the Texas and Louisiana PDF versions, a new online format has been developed. Visit the Tools page under the Resources tab on this website for the latest version.

This study assessed and then determined how to begin to address the resource and capacity needs of hazard mitigation planners in the interior South Central United States. The focus group-based research study involved 31 participants who worked in one or more low-capacity jurisdictions (that is, those that lacked grant management or technical capacity, resources, or public or political support with respect to hazard mitigation) across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. Participants were planners, emergency managers, and related officials whose work spanned approximately 160 jurisdictions. They participated in four rounds of state-based focus groups. In total, 12 focus group meetings were conducted along with two online surveys.

Through a collaboration with the National Hazard Mitigation Association and support from FEMA Region VI, four research questions were addressed:

1. Why are most low-capacity communities unable to address their existing hazard-related challenges?
2. What additional capacities and capabilities are needed so that low-capacity communities can address their hazard challenges that are being/will be exacerbated by climate change?
3. How should a hazard mitigation planning template be designed so it: a) better aligns with the capabilities and capacities of low-capacity communities and b) advances climate resilience and disaster risk reduction more broadly rather than only meeting a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plan requirement?
4. What hazard mitigation planning capability and capacity gaps exist that could be addressed by the NHMA Disaster Risk Reduction Ambassador Curriculum and other applicable training curriculums?

Aside from persistent funding needs and the need for FEMA requirements to be streamlined, the following were identified to be the primary capacities and resources needed to improve hazard mitigation planning and implementation across the region:

• Improved Region 6 hazard mitigation planning guide
• Develop and offer additional training for current hazard mitigation professionals
• Raise awareness of the importance, urgency, and relevance of hazard mitigation to high level local decision makers
• Develop a hazard mitigation action database web tool
• Build the next generation of hazard mitigation workforce professionals
• Succinct messages that communicate about climate change in ways that are relevant to local scales and community values.

To learn more, see the white paper and the following supplemental materials: improved hazard mitigation planning guide, list of eight training objectives, list of hazard mitigation messaging techniques, and a design concept for a hazard mitigation action database. A journal article is under development.

A webinar covered the topic in October 2025 and the recording from which can be viewed here.

This project involves working with a local nonprofit in Louisiana to create community resources for:

• Navigating disaster assistance programs.
• Exploring housing and small business recovery programs.
• Surveying the intersection of climate hazards with industrial hazards and pollution.

* This project was included in a prior theme under previous award conditions.

The research objectives of this project include:

• Assess how cities in the SCIPP region are including community voices within their climate adaptation planning.
• Understand how community groups experience climate change impacts, and the extent that these experiences reflect the ways cities conceptualize climate adaptation.
• Develop ways to improve climate adaptation planning.

This project will assess what climate adaptation activities are already happening and how communities are integrated in these planning activities (or how they could be). We will work with community partners to create resources for community planning and monitoring of federal resources and opportunities and engage with communities to co-produce knowledge on climate risk and vulnerability.

* This project was included in a prior theme under previous award conditions.