Skip to main content
Coastal Sustainability & Resilience Series: image of hurricane, drought, ocean, flood
Series

Coastal Sustainability & Resilience

Practical solutions for a resilient future

View Individual Courses
Contact Us

series Description

Navigate coastal adaptation and sustainability projects

From policies to practice for a resilient future

The Certificate in Coastal Sustainability and Resilience series aims to increase the number of practitioners in coastal communities who are knowledgeable and prepared to integrate a range of sustainability solutions, including nature-based solutions, in coastal adaptation, sustainability, and resilience projects.

Our multisector network of instructors and classmates share a dedication to implementing practical solutions to coastal resilience projects. Through cohort-based activities grounded in science, students build actionable knowledge and skills, such as.

  • Climate adaptation and resilience strategies.
  • Nature-based solutions.
  • Applying to funding sources.
  • An overview of the insurance landscape.
  • A national, regional, and state perspective on nature-based policy solutions.
  • Equitable engagement of interested parties

Our Participants

The first course in this series—Coastal Climate Resilience—is designed for people who are actively working in the field of coastal climate resilience and plan to apply learnings in real time. This includes practitioners across the United States who are working at the interface of climate and coastal adaptation, particularly practitioners and scientists in positions to plan, finance, implement, model, incentivize, and transfer risks associated with coastal adaptation projects. We are particularly interested in supporting:

  • environmental planners,
  • municipal, regional, and state leaders,
  • tribal members,
  • climate and sustainability managers,
  • risk modelers,
  • insurance industry employees,
  • engineers, and,
  • community liaisons working at the interface of climate and adaptation.
 

Coastal Climate Resilience

The course aims to increase the number of practitioners in coastal communities who are knowledgeable and prepared to integrate a range of sustainability solutions. Students in the Coastal Climate Resilience course will draw on UC Santa Cruz's expertise in coastal climate resilience and policy, including the application of nature-based solutions, local adaptation planning, and innovations. Participants will learn from experts in the academic, public, and private sectors.

Through cohort-based instruction and activities grounded in science, participants will build knowledge and skills relating to adaptation and resilience strategies, nature-based solutions, how to apply for funding, innovative financing, the insurance landscape, equitable engagement of interested parties, and more. This course is designed for those actively working in the field of coastal climate resilience with an aim to have practitioners apply learnings in real time.

You will have the opportunity to network and workshop practical solutions that are applicable to your current role in coastal sustainability and resilience.

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify a range of practical solutions for adapting to climate risks, including nature-based solutions.
  • Know how to access resources for planning, evaluating, funding, and implementing a project.
  • Understand the landscape of models and tools available for coastal risk assessments and adaptation planning.
  • Engage interested parties in resilience and adaptation projects in an equitable way.
  • Build an interdisciplinary network to collaborate on local and regional resilience projects.

Course Topics

  • Identify a range of practical solutions for adapting to climate risks, including nature-based solutions.
  • Know how to access resources for planning, evaluating, funding, and implementing a project.
  • Understand the landscape of models and tools available for coastal risk assessments and adaptation planning.
  • Engage interested parties in resilience and adaptation projects in an equitable way.
  • Build an interdisciplinary network to collaborate on local and regional resilience projects.

Hybrid Instruction

A mix of live interactive online sessions and asynchronous online programming will culminate in 2.5 days of in-person instruction at the UC Santa Cruz campus.

  • Week 1: Principles of Coastal Resilience & Climate Change
    Sept. 6, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 2: Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation: Case Studies & Tools
    Sept. 13, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 3: NBS Case Studies Continued & Policies Relevant to NBS
    Sept. 20, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 4: Equitable Engagement of Interested Parties
    Sept. 27, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 5: Sources and Steps to Financing Coastal Resilience at National & State Levels
    Oct. 4, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 6: Insurance and Innovative Financing for Resilient Communities
    Oct. 11, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 7: Data Sources, Tools & Models for Resilient Coastal Adaptation
    Oct. 18, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

  • Week 8: Practical Applications Towards for Resilient Coastal Adaptation
    In-person workshops
    Oct 24, 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. (PT)
    Oct 25, 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. (PT)
    Oct 26, 9 a.m.– 1 p.m. (PT)

  • Week 9: Optional session to engage with demonstrations of models and tools
    Nov. 1, 12:30–2 p.m. (PT)
    Live-Online

Enrollments are no longer accepted for this quarter.

Check back soon for the next session or fill out an inquiry form and we'll let you know about upcoming courses in this exciting program.

 

Questions? See our FAQs

 

Series Inquiry Form

 

 

   
 
Screenshot 2024-04-15 at 12.46.55 PM
 

Program Overview

Estimated Cost: $2,500. Some limited needs-based fellowships available. Contact csp@ucsc.edu
Program Requirements: 4 CEUs
Minimum Hours of Instruction: 40 hours of instruction
Estimated Duration: 9 weeks. Includes an 8-week virtual program + a 2.5 day in-person workshop
Modality: This is a hybrid program including a required in-person component in Santa Cruz, CA.
Special Programs: This program is not approved for workforce or international students.

Courses


1. Coastal Climate Resilience courses

Quarter Units: 4.0 CEUs
Start / End Date
Cost
Instructor
Location
Section ID
Want to enroll or get the estimated cost of future sections? Notify Me

Meet Our Instructors

Megan Kelso
Postdoctoral Fellow, Coastal Resilience Lab at UC Santa Cruz
Sarah Eminhizer
Dtr, Programs & Workforce Devlpmt, UCSC Coastal Science & Policy Program