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Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative

Background

Learn how the Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative got started and where we are headed.

How We Started

In the Fall of 2019, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Arden charged a faculty leadership team to develop an interdisciplinary coastal resilience and sustainability effort at NC State that would lead to practical solutions to address the challenges of climate change, resilience, and sustainability in the coastal zone.

The leadership team responded in a White Paper delivered in December 2020.

Resilience and Sustainability

In North Carolina, as around the world, social, economic, and environmental sustainability are increasingly a part of the public discourse, with demands that society think differently about the future. Recognizing that the only way to build resilience and sustainability – the most complex and pressing grand challenges of our time – is by building diverse teams, our Initiative takes a comprehensive, collaborative, and convergent approach, bringing together different disciplines, perspectives, tools and techniques.

North Carolina is predominantly rural, with agricultural and natural resource-based economies, rich culture and tradition, and significant economic and environmental challenges. NC State is a land grant leader that excels in rural community engagement. We are uniquely poised to engage with North Carolina’s rural communities, where climate risks are great, but community resources may be limited.

NC State Has What It Takes

NC State has many strengths to support this initiative.

  • Innovation in science and engineering
  • New approaches to public infrastructure and renewable energy
  • Sustainable business acumen
  • Leadership in systems modeling, prediction and visualization
  • Leadership in K-12 and informal education to build scientific literacy
  • A world-class extension network
  • Numerous community partnerships

Over 200 NC State faculty members are already engaged and working to improve coastal resilience and sustainability in North Carolina.

Strong Partnerships Are Key

This initiative will leverage other efforts at NC State and build bridges to the many groups beyond our campus that share our vision.

  • Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science Climate Leaders Program
  • Institute for Emmerging Issues
  • N.C. Cooperative Extension
  • NC Climate Office
  • NC Sea Grant, supported by NOAA
  • US Geological Survey’s Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
  • And many more…

Together, with our partners, there is so much we can do to address this defining issue of our time.