Low-lying, working waterfront communities throughout New England (NE), like others around the U.S. who rely on ocean resources, are disproportionately vulnerable to risks from climate change. Large parts of these communities, including critical infrastructure, are projected to be increasingly impacted by nuisance flooding and permanently underwater by the end of the century. Many NE coastal communities face socially and economic challenges related to access to healthcare, inadequate infrastructure, high reliance on natural resources, increased taxes and living costs, and a limited capacity to adapt to the changing climate. Decision-makers need to co-develop climate adaptation strategies and solutions for coastal resilience with coastal communities to ensure that they met these unique needs and challenges.

By collaborating with four strategically selected NE pilot communities, this project aims to co-develop a scalable and transferable framework for Community-Driven Coastal Climate Research & Solutions (3CRS) that builds together the processes, expert networks, data streams, local relationships and knowledge that are necessary to expand a shared capacity of NE working water-dependent communities to become more resilient to climate change, with a focus on the health and social-economic dimensions.