Resiliency Compact to Hold First Meeting

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Elected officials from Lee, Charlotte and Collier counties are meeting Friday for the first time as part of the Southwest Florida Regional Resiliency Compact. Fort Myers Beach joined the group earlier this year. It’s being organized by FGCU Professor Mike Savarese who we interviewed about the organization back in February.

The purpose of the compact is to build an alliance among local governments and natural and cultural resource managers to improve the region’s resilience to the effects of sea-level rise, storminess and warming temperatures.

The session is the first of two workshops to formally organize the group and will be facilitated by The Water School at FGCU, Growing Climate Solutions and the FCRC Consensus Center.

The meeting will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 118 at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Emergent Technologies Institute. Due to the continued risk of COVID-19, the meeting will also be accessible virtually. The meeting is open to the public.

Virtual option: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84168170147 | Meeting ID: 841 6817 0147

Participants include representatives from the three county governments as well as those from Everglades City, Marco Island, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Cape Coral, Punta Gordo, the Captiva Erosion Prevention District and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. These jurisdictions previously ratified a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to establish the compact.

For more information, contact Michael Savarese, Ph.D., distinguished professor of coastal resilience and climate adaptation at The Water School, at 239-590-7165 or msavares@fgcu.edu.