Course participants will receive an introduction to available community-relevant information sources and tools, climate data sets, and a template to help assess an organization's (or region's) climate risks and current resilience. Attendees will learn how to define climate-related hazards, recognize differential impacts of those hazards, identify existing and future risks, fully understand their current vulnerabilities and strengths, identify and utilize stakeholder partnerships to inform the decision making process, and evaluate the most critical vulnerabilities for their organization.

Learning Objectives

  • Clarifying relevant terminology

  • Understanding the importance of doing cross-sector, cross-discipline and whole community analysis

  • Understanding the basics of risk analysis framework and risk management approaches (i.e. defining criticality, prioritizing vulnerabilities), and incorporating climate change into risk analysis activities, strategies and portfolios

  • Learning how historical data on climate hazards and community indicators are accessed and used (including socioeconomic and health data)

  • Evaluating gaps in data and vulnerability knowledge

  • Learning about vulnerability assessments and natural catastrophe modeling, and the resources necessary to undertake vulnerability assessment work

  • Grasping timeframes and frequency of different climate hazards, aligning these with decision making processes, and effectively communicating about these issues

Course Architects

  • Alison Adams – Chief Technical Officer, Science and Technology Division, Tampa Bay Water

  • Kathleen Ave – Renewable Energy & Climate Project Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District

  • Christine Baglin – Principal, Project Performance Corporation

  • Dan Basoli – Associate, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Abt Associates

  • Keely Brooks – Climate Change Analyst, Southern Nevada Water Authority

  • Kelly Burks-Copes – Ecologist, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  • Alan Cohn – Director of Climate and Water Quality, New York City Department of Environmental Protection

  • Nancy Gassman – Assistant Public Works Director, Sustainability Division, City of Fort Lauderdale

  • Juliette Hayes – Acting Hazard Mitigation Assistance Branch Chief, FEMA Region IX

  • Mark Sutherland – Former Senior Analyst, Marstel-Day

  • Susanne Torriente – Chief Resiliency Manager, City of Miami Beach

Click on the image above for a sample clip from the online training.  To purchase on-demand access to this training course, click on the 'add to cart' button below.

Course Reviewers (2021-2023)

  • Alicia Betancourt, CC-P -- University of Florida Extension Director, Monroe County, University of Florida

  • Sarel Cousins, CC-P -- Administrator (Planner), Maryland Department of Agriculture

  • Ned Gardiner -- Climate Resilience Toolkit Engagement Manager, NOAA

  • Fred Lipschultz -- Senior Scientist, US Global Change Research Program

  • Adrienne Hollis — Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists

  • Susan Love -- Administrator, Climate and Sustainability Office, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

  • Lindene Patton -- Partner, Earth and Water Law, LLC

  • Paul Wagner -- Faculty and Fellow, Virginia Tech Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability

Sample Screen Shots from the Climate-201 Online Course (2023)