The Gulf Resilience Community of Practice recently recognized Refugio County, Texas, and St. Petersburg, Florida, for their work in community resilience. Refugio County is the 2025 Spirit of Community Award winner in the community category. The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, received an honorable mention award in the same category.
The Gulf Resilience Community of Practice is a group of several hundred professionals throughout the Gulf of America who work together to learn how coastal communities can adapt to natural hazards, sea-level rise, precipitation changes and other resilience challenges. Members of the group who have attended at least one annual meeting are eligible to vote to elect award winners.
Refugio County, award winner
The county was nominated for its exemplary work in incorporating nature-based solutions. In conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation and the Harte Research Institute (HRI), Refugio County has been developing a nature-based project to address extreme event vulnerabilities. The initiative focuses on restoring natural features, such as marshes and shorelines, to buffer against extreme weather events, thereby supporting both the local economy and environmental sustainability.
This approach not only addresses immediate vulnerabilities but also aligns with the community’s long-term development goals. Through the restoration of natural ecosystems, the initiative enhances the region's capacity to withstand and recover from extreme events. It contributes to the overarching objective of building resilient coastal communities across the Gulf region.
Refugio County’s success lies in its spirit of collaboration. By working with academic institutions, such as HRI, and non-profit organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, Refugio County has been able to proactively address emerging environmental concerns. By facilitating local advisory groups, community workshops and surveys, the initiative has activity engaged local citizens to ensure that solutions developed are reflective of community interests.
This multi-stakeholder approach fosters a sense of ownership and collective responsibility, essential for the long-term sustainability of resilience efforts. For additional information on Refugio County and their collaborative project, please consult Designing a Nature-Based Project in Refugio County.
City of St. Petersburg, honorable mention
The city of St. Petersburg was recognized as a Gulf jurisdiction that maintains a consistent record of exemplary projects and recognition by its peers in the realm of environmental resilience. The city has been a regional leader in resilience. It organized a Program for Public Information (PPI) under the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System. It also helped organize the Pinellas County Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group.
The PPI is a diverse group of representatives from local government, elected officials, emergency management, real estate and insurance industry professionals, and others who determine measures that would make the city more resilient. Examples of the team’s work includes repetitive loss area analysis and recommendations to remedy vulnerabilities and working with the city’s stormwater team to mitigate chronic flooding in known problematic areas. The group’s actions saved citizens of St. Petersburg millions of dollars on flood insurance policies by reducing its Community Rating System class rating.
In 2020, The city of St. Petersburg combined forces with 24 cities in Pinellas County to identify and share successes and solve challenges together. The Pinellas County Local Mitigation Strategy Working Group brings together all the cities in the county to collectively discuss and formulate flood information messaging and mitigation strategies increasing their resiliency to environmental vulnerabilities. The group is the first of its kind.
About the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium is one of 34 Sea Grant programs supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in coastal and Great Lakes states. Sea Grant programs encourage the wise stewardship of marine resources through research, education, engagement and technology transfer.
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
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