Purpose
In this activity, you will integrate high-priority resilience actions into your plan(s), and publish your plan(s) so that it will be formally supported by municipal leadership and the broader community.
Why?
To chart a clear and more resilient path towards implementation, you need to integrate priority resilience strategies/actions into the appropriate plan(s) and/or policies and ensure that you have crucial buy-in from leadership and the broader community. Compiling all of the results and establishing the path forward is the key first step before you can implement resilience strategies.
When?
This process can take between one to three months.
Tips
- Ensure buy-in from leadership. Communicate regularly with municipal leadership so that they are aware of where you are in the planning process, can help you solve potential challenges, and ensure that there are no surprises after you have invested all of this time, money, and energy into your resilience planning efforts.
- Prepare for skeptics. Be prepared to encounter community members who are critical, skeptical, or in denial about the science. Communicate clearly, use credible sources in your published materials, and most importantly, listen.
- Keep your momentum! Publishing your plan(s) is only the beginning of your resilience journey. Implementation is crucial to enhancing the resilience of your community, so find opportunities to maintain momentum into the next phase of your journey.
How does my community do this?
- Determine how your prioritized actions will be utilized in your plan(s) or policies. In some cases, you will be able to integrate actions identified directly into a plan update or into a new plan you are developing. In other cases, you will utilize your list of prioritized actions to develop new policies or programs. Revisiting your planning scope will guide this decision-making process. For example, actions developed through this process can be integrated into a Pre-Disaster Recovery Plan, a Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Plan, a Comprehensive Plan, a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, or more.
- Update or develop your plan(s) or policies using the priority resilience actions from Activity 2. This is a particularly important milestone in the pre-disaster recovery planning process. For more information, see the Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning page.
- Publish a draft version of your plan(s) for public review. Community engagement is crucial at this stage. This may be the first time that some community members will understand what the resilience planning process will look like in action. Providing ample opportunity for community members to comment on the plan(s) will ensure that their voices are heard and that their input is integrated into the final product. Current and future shocks and stressors impact us all; therefore, it is important to empower your community to play an important role in the process. In addition, be sure to solicit feedback from neighboring jurisdictions, the county, and additional organizations relevant to decision-making in this area.
- Finalize the plan. After you have provided the public an opportunity to comment, make suggestions, and identify potential changes to your draft plan, integrate those changes and finalize your plan.
- Present final materials to municipal leadership. After you have finalized the plan, present your final materials to municipal leadership so that the plan can be formally adopted