The Steps to Resilience framework encompasses the team building, data gathering, and decision-making it takes for a local climate champion and a team of engaged community members to enhance their resilience to climate-related impacts.
The framework is aligned with, and inclusive of, other efforts to reduce risk through adaptation.
This framework describes a risk management process to help communities learn about their local climate hazards, identify their most pressing climate-related issues, and work together to develop and implement a climate resilience plan.
Following the Steps, communities iteratively
View some of the sub-steps in the Navigate the Steps graphic below
Local leaders who want to help their community avoid damage from climate-related hazards use the Steps framework. Primary users include
Committed leaders who are concerned about climate and know how to get things done in their communities.
Community champions usually have a track record of getting things done. They can use the steps as a roadmap to help them manage a resilience-building process.
Consultants or policymakers who develop and update official planning documents.
Most municipalities, counties, and states are required to prepare and submit regular updates to official planning documents. Leveraging community engagements for preparing these documents can be an efficient way to integrate climate concerns into future plans.
People who work together to protect a natural system or historic structure.
Communities often coalesce around an asset they want to protect. The first step for these groups is to explore the weather and climate-related hazards that could impact that asset.
Individuals who are elected, appointed, or employed by a government entity to address sustainability or develop plans such as a climate action plan or a hazard mitigation plan.
Government champions work for the people their offices represent. Champions within the government use the steps to lead a process to protect people and assets from climate-related hazards.
Individuals or groups who work with communities—often as consultants—to assess and address climate-related vulnerability and risk.
Practitioners have expertise in climate and in risk management; they can help a community document its climate-related hazards and produce a climate action plan. Learn more in Implementing the Steps to Resilience: A Practitioner's Guide »
Have locations in your region experienced a negative impact from one or more climate-related hazards? Are you eager to address climate concerns in your next update to official planning documents?
Whatever initiates your awareness of the need to consider your risk related to climate, making an inventory of your assets and considering what hazards could harm them is an important early step.
If you're already aware of a climate-related hazard that could occur in your community, you can start your resilience journey by listing the people, places, and services that could be damaged by that hazard. Later, you'll explore additional hazards that could affect your assets.
People often form communities around an asset they want to protect. For example, dozens of business owners might join a "Downtown Association" to promote and protect their shops. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts, wildlife conservationists, and sportsmen might join together to form a "Friends of the River" group. Asset-centered groups can further their common goals by exploring the weather and climate-related hazards that could impact the asset they care about.
In order to be eligible for federal and state programs, municipalities, counties, and states are required to prepare and submit regular updates to official planning documents such as Hazard Mitigation Plans. Leveraging community engagements required for these updates to add climate considerations to planning documents is an efficient way to move plans forward and integrate climate resilience into future plans.
People use a range of frameworks to address risk in various sectors of society. All these frameworks use an iterative approach to assess risk and select strategies to build resilience. Most resilience frameworks include the same general sub-steps as the Steps to Resilience.
The Steps to Resilience framework is compatible with other climate adaptation processes. Whichever framework you follow, effective resilience-building will require you to evaluate exposure, vulnerability, and risk from climate-related impacts, and integrate the results with other considerations before setting priorities, developing plans, and implementing projects.
Access a PDF comparing the Steps to Resilience to other adaptation frameworks
The Steps to Resilience framework was inspired by and/or adapted from the following sources:
