Bending, but not Breaking

Earlier this week, millions of people were displaced, entire villages were destroyed, and dozens of people died or are still missing as a result of “unprecedented” rain and flooding fueled by a tropical storm in northern Japan.  The floods ravaged many of the same areas destroyed by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, including the Fukushima nuclear plant. Hundreds of bags of radioactive debris stored in the area were washed away.  (Story and photo credit, here)

In a 2011 blog entry (link here) I described what I called “The Forgotten Stepchild” in the race to address Climate Change. I said:

“In all this discussion of high profile climate mitigation efforts, there’s a parallel initiative (a sibling, if you will) that sits quietly in the shadow of Mitigation, waiting for recognition. There’s an old adage about ducks. They seem calm and unruffled on the surface, but underneath the water, they’re paddling like crazy.

“It’s like that with climate-change initiatives. Celebrities and former US vice presidents ask you to change light bulbs and purchase energy from renewable sources. Climate scientists probe glaciers for clues to what has been and what may be. But at the same time, these same people understand that even if we are able to reverse the current trends, it will take time. We should be preparing for the inevitable. We need to adapt. We need to modify our buildings, our lifestyles and our expectations to better meet the physical demands of living on a changing Earth.

“Adaptation, to be effective, must address all forms of possible impact on human life. Still, it isn’t always what humans do that causes concern. War, the spread of chemical or nuclear contamination, crime and terrorism are the obvious result of humanity’s loss of humanity. Some of the “blame” for severe storms, floods, heat events, fires and the pandemic spread of disease can directly or indirectly be placed at our feet. Other life-altering events, like recent earthquakes and devastating tsunami, should be considered inevitable and unpreventable.

“All of these possibilities must be planned for, though activities we undertake will vary depending on where we live, how we live, and what we hope to save in the event of a disaster.

New Focus on Resilience

The American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC, link here) "is a high-visibility effort to address global climate disruption by creating a network of colleges and universities that have committed to neutralize their greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the earth’s climate."  Since 2007, all of the institutions within the University System of Maryland have been participating signatories of the ACUPCC.  All have made great strides and progress through the program.

The ACUPCC recently amended its program to include a commitment on “resilience,” asking college campuses to also consider pursuing adaptations to their built environment to withstand the inevitable natural and climate-related phenomenon.  As noted above, this is a very timely and extremely important aspect of each university’s sustainability effort.  

If we’re well prepared when faced with a climate event, the hope is that our diligent preparation will allow our organizations to bend (and return to form), but not break.

The new, comprehensive Climate Commitment will include both a Carbon Component and/or an Adaptation/Resilience Component.  Institutions are invited to : (1) implement a resilience-based component (shared organization, programs, activities, etc.) that augments their existing carbon-focused sustainability program; or (2) create a new, comprehensive sustainability program that includes both components that replaces their current sustainability program; or (3) establish a stand-alone plan and organization (programs, activities, etc.) that work separately, but parallel to their existing carbon-focused sustainability efforts.   The language of the expanded commitment components is available here (link).

(Image credit HERE)

Implementation of the resilience component (regardless of the approach taken by the campus) will follow a path much like the one taken with the carbon-focused plan.  There are some key differences between the two, however; and, in my opinion, all of them improve and enhance ongoing campus sustainability efforts without adding a great deal of additional work or expense.  This is particularly true if campuses fold this added facet into their current sustainability and community relations programs and utilize many of the same personnel, policies and practices. 

I’m pleased to see that this resilience-focused component seems to be less prescriptive and require somewhat less in the way of quantifiable reports (e.g., the greenhouse gas inventories you all currently submit).  Identification of adaptation issues and the solutions to those issues seems to be the outgrowth of a process of relationship building and public discussion, rather than a quantitative model.  This is encouraging.

As we have found with efforts to reduce carbon emissions, success is less about spending more money and more about the choices we make as we develop and operate buildings—particularly if we assume a long-term perspective.  Furthermore, many of the activities we undertake to reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability (reduced energy use, effective water and waste management, etc.) likewise improve our ability to withstand and recover from a climatic event.

(Image credit HERE)

Finally, one more thing I really like about the expanded program is its strong emphasis on community involvement.  Improving resilience is truly a community and regional process, one in which the university can play a key role in providing expertise, resources, and support.  This ties very nicely into the Board of Regents goals for community involvement in long-term planning.  Working with our host cities and counties toward these goals will continue to build and strengthen “town/gown” bridges of trust and communication.

It also brings the two blogs I authored together in a very real way, this one focused on resilience and the other (link here) focused on community participation, among other things.

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Info about Maryland's State Climate Adaptation Plan can be found at this link

Note: Useful references related to Resilience Planning--particularly for colleges and universities--can be found at this link