Start the Conversation

Holding a resilience workshop is a good way to start your journey towards adaptation

Promoting Coastal Resilience in Arctic Alaska workshop, Unalaska, AK.

Climate experts can provide data and decision support tools to the community. Community members can voice their own observations of change and describe how changes are impacting their way of life.

Through this process, you can identify the climate impacts that are of the greatest concern to your community.

Getting community members to agree on what they want to achieve with an adaptation plan—such as avoiding property or infrastructure damage, preserving a traditional way of life, protecting community health, or just raising awareness—helps to define goals later on in the planning process.

You can increase your chances of success by making sure that there is two-way communication between community members and researchers—each group has an important role to play.

Choose your area of interest Identify potential funding sources Coordinate activities

Choose your area of interest

David Andrew, Native Village of Napakiak, at the Adapt Y-K Steering Committee meeting in 2018. (Photo: Ian Dutton)

Define your community and the geographic area you want to cover with a climate adaptation plan. This could be a village or municipality, a borough, a watershed, or an entire region.

Climate change will affect every community differently. For example, a community in Interior Alaska will not experience the impacts of disappearing sea ice, but may experience erosion along stream banks much like coasts are eroding.

Once you’ve defined a community, community members can share their observations of local climate change and determine their motivation to adapt.

Identify potential funding sources

The Southeast Climate Adaptation workshop in Klukwan focused on resources important for subsistence to the Chilkat and Chilkoot Tribes.

Climate adaptation often requires near-term funding to mitigate or avoid more expensive climate damages in the future. Limited funding is often the biggest barrier to climate adaptation in Alaska Native communities.

Things you can do:

Advocate for and leverage resources
Seek grants
Incorporate sustainable economic development into resilience and adaptation strategies
Take advantage of opportunities for training and technical assistance in business, grant writing, and project financing

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program

One type of grant that has been used often to fund climate adaptation planning in Alaska is the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Communities that receive HMGP funding can use it to prepare Hazard Impact Assessments to identify and prepare for likely threats and/or to create Hazard Mitigation Plans to fund improved community infrastructure after a disaster.

Coordinate activities

Promoting Coastal Resilience in Arctic Alaska workshop, Unalaska, AK.

Climate adaptation planning and solutions require resources ranging from data and decision support tools to technical training and program administration. Coordinating community activities reduces the competition for limited resources (including federal grants) and eases the burden on personnel that may have multiple responsibilities.

Effective coordination requires open and honest communication among those involved in the adaptation process. Regular community meetings can help foster this communication.

Resources for starting an adaptation conversation

Categories: Education, Funding, Leadership & Communication, Resilience Workshop

Title	Summary	hf:categories
Alaska Native Cultural Charter School	Maintains Alaska Native culture and curriculum in Anchorage.	education health-culture
Alaska Native Knowledge Network	Provides resources for Indigenous knowledge in education and other applications.	education health-culture
Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program	Brings career guidance and opportunities for work experience to younger students.	education
Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program	Helps Alaskans with the practical use and conservation of the state’s marine and freshwater resources.	economy health-culture leadership
Arctic Youth Ambassadors Program	Brings together youth from across Alaska to serve as ambassadors for their communities and country in building awareness at home and abroad about life in the Arctic.	leadership
Drought and Extreme Weather Events in SE Alaska Workshop	In March 2022, a workshop was held in Juneau, Alaska on the topic of drought and extreme events in Alaska. The goal of the workshop was to build collaboration to enhance data, decision making, and adaptation planning.	workshop
Drought and Extreme Weather Events in SE Alaska Workshop: List of Presentations and Speakers	List of presentations, speakers, and links from the Drought and Extreme Events in Southeast Alaska Workshop	data-expertise workshop
Grant Writing Assistance Program	Contracts with professional grant writers to provide grant opportunity research and grant writing assistance for member communities.	education funding
Iñupiaq Immersion School	The only Iñupiaq immersion school in the United States.	education health-culture
Ilisagvik College	A two-year tribal college in Utqiagvik.	education health-culture
Port Heiden Vulnerability Assessment	A vulnerability assessment developed from a One Health perspective.	economy health-culture workshop vulnerability
Resident Technical Assistance Program	Provides CDQ resident entrepreneurs with a source of assistance in developing business plans, feasibility analysis (small projects), grant mentoring, completing loan applications, financial counseling and other unique needs for developing small businesses.	education
Tribal Climate Change Guide—University of Oregon	Database providing up-to-date information on grants, programs and plans, potential partners, publications, events, and more that may assist tribes in addressing climate change through a broad range of sectors.	funding
Yuut Elitnaurviat	Provides training for local jobs that combines intensive academics and on-the-job training in Bethel.	education health-culture