Resilience Building in Action

Greater San Diego

Building Coastal Resilience in Greater San Diego

Coasts across the San Diego region are on the frontline of climate change. Communities and the ecosystems they depend upon are at risk as the region’s beaches and bluffs erode in alarming ways. And this rate of change is accelerating. The latest climate assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed an outlook that many Californians are observing today: we will experience more frequent flooding and increased cliff, bluff, and beach erosion, impacting infrastructure, the environment, the economy, and communities across the region.

In the face of these challenges, resilience projects that create multiple benefits and foster regional-scale long-term planning can help communities adapt. Resilient Cities Catalyst and the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative convened global and local experts and leaders representing diverse community stakeholders for the San Diego Region Coastal Exchange in July 2020 in order to identify and accelerate these kinds of efforts. The convening has since spurred integrated activities that, together, are fostering a more resilient region.

First, through the California Resilience Partnership, RCC is working with local and state partners to develop a regional resilience roadmap: a strategic plan that will provide a framework for stakeholders to organize and prioritize action, while accelerating investment for coastal resilience projects. Second, design is underway for a complementary resilience fund that will blend philanthropic funding streams to support the testing, piloting, and scaling of community-driven coastal resilience projects across the region. And third, RCC and local partners are developing a pipeline of projects that are best poised to address the region’s coastal challenges, and preparing these projects for implementation. 

A recent convening helped advance all of these efforts. In December 2021, RCC convened representatives from seven municipalities from across the Oceanside Littoral Cell along with philanthropy and academia. This workshop surfaced regional scale coastal resilience projects, policy levers, and stakeholders that can support coordinated action across the region. Educational materials that inform communities about the need for long-term integrated planning are also supporting this work. 

Taken together, RCC and local partners are helping to advance a common vision for a more resilient region. Looking forward, plans are underway to expand upon this work, with future projects engaging more comprehensively in other regional shocks and stresses.