Adapting for the Future

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This is Part 2 of Lesson 6 of Project Resilience curriculum. Students will use the LA-SAFE Adaptation Plan to identify the difficulties associated with creating adaptation plans for Louisiana’s coastal communities.

Learning Objectives

  • Students will gain experience evaluating the needs and values of their community as a way to create a plan for resilience.
  • Students will understand why it is often difficult to create an adaptation plan for coastal communities.

Materials

Preparation

  • Print copies of the LA SAFEAdaptation Student SheetA. One for each group.

Directions

Consider what adaptation means for coastal communities (15 min)

  1. Begin by reviewing the definition of adaptation (Slide 71) from the day before and asking: What is an example of a community adapting to changing environmental conditions?
    • Write these adaptation examples on a whiteboard at the front of the classroom.
  2. Explain how Louisiana's people have adapted to environmental conditions in the past. Have the students then come up with at least five examples of community adaptations. These examples will be needed later on in the lesson.
    • In the late 1700s, Cajuns swapped from wheat to rice due to the change in climate (see Rice Story included in background information).
    • New Orleans planters also began swapping from indigo to sugarcane crops in the late 1700s due to drought, insects, and loss of market.
  3. Engage in a discussion by asking:What environmental factors are affecting coastal communities right now? What factors will impact these communities in the future? What problems are these communities facing due to these environmental factors?
  4. Have students consider the various factors necessary to design an adaptation project. What type of factors would you need to consider when putting together an adaptation project for a coastal community?
    • Examples of factors: geography, economics, demographics, values
  5. Ask: Would you have any tough decisions or trade-offs when designing an adaptation project? Explain that many adaptation strategies require tough decisions and compromise. Ask: What type of compromises would the communities have to make?

Explore how adaptation plans are created (35 min)

  1. Divide students into groups and provide each with a copy of the LA SAFE Adaptation Student Sheet. Explain to the students that these questions are some of the first questions asked when forming an adaptation plan. Have students discuss and complete questions 1-5 on the student sheet.
    • Instead of working as a group, students could work individually to complete questions 1-5 of the LA SAFE Adaptation Student Sheet.
  2. Once questions 1 through 3 are completed, ask the following: Was it easy to answer these questions? Did you have to make any tough decisions? Did everyone in your group agree? Was it easy to compromise? It is important to realize that this process can be difficult, and compromises are necessary to move forward.
  3. Using question 3 from the LA SAFE Adaptation Student Sheet, have each student write down which issue they believe to be the most important. This can differ from the issue the group chose. After writing down their selection, students should find a partner that was not in their group. Partners will take turns explaining why they chose that specific issue as the most important for the parish. Remind students the goal of this activity is to relate to or understand other viewpoints.
  4. After explaining their reasoning, students will exchange issues and find a new partner. Using their new issue, students will explain why their new issue is the most important to the parish. Students will use what they just heard from their first partner to explain their new issue. Repeat with another partner, if time allows.
  5. Have students return to their original groups and complete questions 4 and 5. Each group will have to compromise and have one completed list for each question. Repeat the questions from step 4.
  6. Introduce LA SAFE (Slide 72). Have you heard of LA SAFE or the adaptation strategies for Terrebonne parish?
  7. Explain that the questions on their LA SAFE Adaptation Student Sheet were also used during LA SAFE meetings to identify important factors within the communities.

Assign Journal Prompt #13.

Prompt #13:To form parish adaptation plans, LA SAFE held several rounds of community meetings. The goal of these meetings was to receive input from the residents about what type of adaptation projects they wanted to see in their community. Do you think this is an effective process for developing community adaptation plans? Why or why not? What aspects of your community would you want to protect with an adaptation project?

 

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Background

Adaptation: becoming more suited to your environment

Adaptation examples from the past:

  • The story of rice - When Cajun peoples migrated from Nova Scotia they brought wheat with them, but found that it didn't grow well in their new environment. However, they discovered that rice did grow well. The Cajun people adapted to using rice their dishes instead of wheat. Over time, rice became a staple in the culture of Cajun cooking.

Adaptation examples from the present:

Information below from LA SAFE: Regional & Parish Adaptation Strategies

  • LA SAFE - Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments (all LA SAFE info used from Terrebonne adaptation plan)
    • Mission: Working together for community resilience, economic prosperity, and a better quality of life for everyone in Louisiana.
    • Goals:
      • To generate parish-wide, community-driven adaptation plans focused on opportunities for residents and stakeholders to proactively adapt and prepare for anticipated environmental changes over the next 10, 25, and 50 years.
      • To implement a catalytic project in each of the six parishes that demonstrates adaptive development practices that conform to current and future flood risks. Furthermore, LA SAFE is intended to identify and support the development of resilience-building projects and practices that can serve as models for the entire region.
      • To create a statewide adaptation model that enhances long-term sustainability and resiliency for all Louisiana parishes.
    • To help address these complex issues in a holistic manner, the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Rockefeller Foundation, awarded funding for LA SAFE—Louisiana's Strategic Adaptations for Future Environments. The LA SAFE program supports an inclusive public process to identify adaptation strategies and provides funding for at least one catalytic project in each parish.
    • The LA SAFE planning process focuses on six parishes that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Isaac in 2012: Terrebonne, Plaquemines, Lafourche, St. John the Baptist, Jefferson, and St. Tammany, as well as the region as a whole.
    • Project examples:
      • Buyout programs
      • Education centers
      • Harbors of Refuge
      • Mental Health and Substance Abuse Programs

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Credits

This activity was developed for Project Resilience, funded by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.