In January, staff with the MASGC resilience team wrapped up the first year of training sessions for the COAST (Community Outreach and Strategic Training) Resilience Institute. The value of the COAST Resilience Institute was twofold: it provided training to local government officials on a wide variety of topics and it also provided valuable information on what types of workshop formats and outreach topics best appealed to coastal communities.
Over the course of a year, there were 21 trainings conducted through COAST, with 313 participants in total. Of the total number of trainings held, nine were hosted at Mississippi locations and six were at Alabama locations, with another six additional trainings presented as online webinars. Individuals who attended COAST events were eligible for continuing education credits, primarily CFM credits for floodplain managers and AICP credits for land use planners. In total, 28.5 CFM credit hours were provided for floodplain managers and 24 AICP credit hours were provided to land use planners. Awards and giveaways were also set up in order to encourage participation.
Potential training opportunities were publicized on a quarterly basis, in order to provide adequate leeway for interested participants to block off prospective training opportunities. In the final quarter of COAST, the workshop slate was kicked off with a workshop on nature-based solutions. The workshop was held at the Mississippi State University Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi and included numerous speakers versed in different areas of expertise in building and maintaining nature-based features. In January, the COAST project team wrapped up the quarter with two webinars on the following topics:
- Risk Rating 2.0:
- Navigating the Community Rating System (CRS):
Stephen Songe, an insurance agent in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was guest speaker for the Risk Rating 2.0 webinar. He provided valuable information on how to build a flood insurance quote under Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA’s new risk assessment approach. Later in January, there was a webinar, which provided an overview of the CRS and insight into some of the basic activities communities can engage in to receive points and improve their overall score and standing. Both of these webinars are available on Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant’s YouTube page for review.
With the first year coming to a close, members of the MASGC resilience team created a brief publication compiling attendance numbers, evaluation results, continuing education hours and other metrics associated with the program and its various training sessions. This publication includes both qualitative and quantitative data sets, such as a word cloud produced from all the evaluation form responses.
The world cloud shows the primary words used when participants were asked “what did you like about the training?” Such an endeavor is useful for identifying recurring themes and points of emphasis, along with interactive activities that may have stood out among the different training sessions. Going into year 2 of the COAST Resilience Institute, the MASGC resilience team looks to build upon past success. Core topics such as the CRS, severe weather preparedness and resilient building will continue as points of emphasis, alongside new topics and emerging concerns.
The MASGC resilience team welcomes any input on suitable topics and methods of outreach for our next slate of offerings. Feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] for further information on COAST and its upcoming training opportunities.
Meet the author
Stephen Deal
Extension Specialist (Land Use Planning)
Stephen works with floodplain managers, building officials, city officials, scientists and Sea Grant partners to provide information and training related to flood and storm resilience. He holds a... Read more
Phone: 228-435-9527
Email: [email protected]