Weather and Social Data to Inform Participatory Planning Initiatives

This briefing transcript features Mary Austerman of New York Sea Grant discussing the integration of weather and social science data to support participatory planning and coastal resilience in New York's Great Lakes region, specifically focusing on Lake Ontario.

• In the Great Lakes region, local planners and officials were found to be more receptive to discussing "weather trends" than using terminology like "climate change" or "resiliency."
• New York Sea Grant developed a customized vulnerability assessment for the Great Lakes region that evaluates impacts on critical infrastructure, transportation, essential businesses, and societal systems across various weather events, including coastal flooding, flash flooding from precipitation or ice jams, ice storms, blizzards, and wind storms.
• A Lake Ontario inundation mapping tool was created to allow communities to view flood risk at the parcel level. The tool uses LiDAR, elevation data, and parcel information to show impacts at specific water levels, such as 249, 249.5, and 250 feet.
• A 2017 flood survey conducted with Cornell University documented a record-breaking flood event on Lake Ontario that lasted approximately three months, causing significant disruption to homes and businesses and damaging shoreline management structures.
• A case study in the village of Sodus Point, Wayne County, New York, demonstrated the use of the vulnerability assessment and inundation mapping tool within a public engagement process to identify community assets at risk and develop resiliency actions, such as a new communication strategy for tourism during floods.
• New York State has launched two major initiatives for shoreline resilience: the 2019 Resilient Economic Development Initiative, which provided $300 million for priority projects, and the Lake Ontario Coastal Community Planning Initiative.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). Weather and Social Data to Inform Participatory Planning Initiatives. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_041720.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Weather and Social Data to Inform Participatory Planning Initiatives. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_041720.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Weather and Social Data to Inform Participatory Planning Initiatives |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_041720.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020weather, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Weather and Social Data to Inform Participatory Planning Initiatives}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_041720.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }