About the Network

The Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network (CHRN) is co-managed by Washington Sea Grant and the Washington Coastal Zone Management Program, which is housed at the Washington State Department of Ecology. CHRN has a membership of over 70 coastal hazards and climate change practitioners from federal, local and state government agencies, tribes, academic institutions, consulting firms, and nonprofit organizations. The network also maintains a listserv of more than 150 subscribers.

This network supports efforts to address the impacts of coastal hazards and climate change by strengthening the resilience of Washington’s coastal communities through collaboration, education, and knowledge exchange. 

Mission and Vision

CHRN is a valuable resource for Washington’s coastal communities and those working in fields related to coastal hazards resilience. Prior to CHRN’s establishment in 2013, communities and practitioners identified a very clear need for a peer network to operate in this space for people to exchange and share information, learn from one another, and build relationships and partnerships to further coastal resilience work. To this end, CHRN’s mission is to strengthen the resilience of Washington’s coastal communities through collaboration, education, and knowledge exchange. CHRN’s membership and target audience includes coastal hazards and climate resiliency practitioners from local, state, and federal government agencies, tribes, academic institutions, consulting firms, and nonprofit organizations.

CHRN provides an accessible website with a curated selection of relevant science, best practices, and other resources related to coastal hazards in Washington. The website includes frequently updated information about Washington coastal hazards, tools and resources, case studies, and a membership directory. CHRN members also attend annual meetings, share opportunities for learning and skills development on the listserv and the PNW Coastal Hazards Newsletter, and use the CHRN website for coordinating and disseminating products from multi-partner projects.

Goals

CHRN’s goals support the overall mission of the network, while also identifying ways to grow to better support its members. CHRN seeks to carry out its goals in a manner that is responsive to the needs of Washington’s coastal communities as they change over time, and that takes advantage of new funding and partnership opportunities.

For more information on the history of the network and Washington’s coastal resilience initiatives, see the “History and Timeline” page.

Goal 1: Support a peer network of coastal hazards practitioners

Build and sustain important relationships among the coastal resilience community with the intention of fostering greater collaboration between state agencies, researchers, local entities and private consultants to produce tangible resilience benefits for coastal communities.

Strategies:

• Host meetings (e.g., annual meeting) and co-sponsor events and/or webinars in order to build stronger connections/relationships amongst members and provide a venue for sharing updates, new information, or success stories
• Support new network connections by:
• Providing contact information for the coordinator and/or network staff member(s) and welcoming people to reach out to them with inquiries 
• Maintaining and updating the ‘Connect to a member feature’
• Fostering and supporting partnerships between State and Federal agencies, organizations, and other networks that focus on coastal hazards
• Expand membership by reaching out to coastal hazards practitioners and researchers and asking them to join the listserv, become a member, contribute information, etc.

Goal 2: Provide coastal hazards information for Washington

Host and share a variety of curated coastal hazards information and resources for coastal hazards risk reduction, planning, and resilience efforts, with a focus on creating a two-way flow of information between CHRN managers and the regional coastal resilience community. 

Strategies:

• Direct people to best available tools, information, and resources for coastal hazards resilience in Washington via the website and listserv.
• Develop a feedback mechanism through surveys, member outreach, web-based input to ensure our resources are relevant to the community, responsive to local needs, and accessible to the broader coastal resilience community
• Adaptively manage the network so that the community continues to equitably grow 
• Provide an accessible, user-friendly means of finding resources on resilience and coastal hazards-related topics 
• Highlight and share new resources, such as the resilience principles for coastal hazards projects
• Solicit up to date information and contributions from experts and facilitate the sharing of this information
• Promote and share use-cases (communities + practitioners) to disseminate lessons learned and raise awareness of recent projects and success stories.
• Highlight specific projects and their products on the Coastal Hazards Risk Reduction Project Mapper and promote relationships with other agencies, research projects, and information sharing platforms
• Coordinate with the Cascadia CoPes Hub and other regional coastal hazards networks
• Support the work of Washington’s Coastal Hazards Organizational Resilience Team (COHORT)
• Local outreach support (e.g. how to engage people about SLR planning)
• Host/facilitate lunch-and-learn events

Goal 3: Sustain network capacity while adapting to changing needs of Washington’s coastal communities and resilience practitioners

In order to accomplish the above goals, CHRN must be a thriving and functional network with sufficient capacity to sustain operations. As the broad “community of practice” around coastal hazards resilience continues to grow, the network must ensure that the information that is shared through the network remains relevant and valued. CHRN will broaden direct partner involvement in the leadership and direction of the network, and will periodically undertake strategic planning activities to respond and adapt to evolving needs in Washington’s coastal resilience space.

Strategies:

• Clearly define roles and responsibilities of network managers and staff/fellows providing support for the network 
• Convene an advisory team each year to support planning of the annual meeting and guide goals and objectives of the CHRN
• Regularly identify and conduct website improvements, updates, and additions. Conduct annual review of the website for data gaps and key updates
• Track major coastal resilience achievements and accomplishments through a timeline webpage
• Send messages to Listserv updating subscribers on news, events, and resources; encourage and solicit increased use of the listserv by members to share information of their own
• Evaluate Network relevance and effectiveness periodically, and adapt network objectives in response to findings and identified needs
• Website and Listserv analytics
• Member and targeted audience surveys
• Input from advisory team and CHRN annual meeting attendees