Lead Researcher: Rosemarie Fusco, PhD Candidate | rfusco@uri.edu

What incentivizes U.S. seaports to be resilient to natural hazards? How is port decision-making incentivized to implement resilience? With converging pressures from socioeconomic growth and episodic and long-term impacts of climate change, ports face increasing market demands and increasing vulnerability to natural hazards. Methods for incentivizing resilience investments in basic economies have been documented as an area of opportunity, but incentivizing port resilience to natural hazards is understudied. Figure 1. Resilient infrastructure at work. Photo: Association Internationale Villes et Ports (AIVP). Regulators typically use traditional forms of incentives to increase participation in programs that serve a public good. Normally occurring incentives also manifest outside of regulation in perfect markets. Both methods of incentivizing resilience to decisionmakers can increase natural hazard resilience in ports, such as investing in infrastructure longevity and supporting environmental justice. How port decision-makers react to command-and-control incentives or direct economic benefits is key to implementing efficient and equitable port resilience to natural hazards in the face of climate change. This project builds on work at the University of Rhode Island to understand the interventions for resilience and the perceptions of resilience in critical infrastructure management. Interviews and surveys of representatives from 21 principal U.S. ports will document and measure reactions of port decision-makers to incentives by presenting participants with theoretical incentivized situations that require decision-making. The questions posed will incorporate economic and cultural dimensions of natural hazard resilience, including notions of social and environmental justice. The research will aggregate and analyze mixed-methods data by coding with thematic analysis and weighted Likert scales. Findings from this research will suggest how to integrate vetted incentives into port planning (e.g., infrastructure improvement grants, bond issues for port resilience, awards for recognition). It will contribute to awareness of the benefits of incentives for port planning, of ethical considerations of using incentives, and will build an understanding of how port decision-makers perceive incentives that are offered. This research will also help port management, designated planners, and port communities connect needs, perception, justice, costs, and benefits of port resilience to natural hazards and of planning for the impacts of climate change. This research is part of the Marine Affairs Coastal Resilience Lab. Lead Researcher: Rosemarie Fusco, PhD Candidate | rfusco@uri.edu