Coastal Resilience Community and Tribal Engagement Plan

In 2023, Washington State formed the Coastal Hazards Organizational Resilience Team (COHORT) to strengthen interagency coordination to advance coastal resilience for all communities and tribes throughout the state. Determining effective strategies to strengthen community and tribal engagement is a key component of the COHORT's charge. To support the COHORT in their charge, ERG conducted interviews, surveyed coastal practitioners, reviewed documents, and conducted a geospatial analysis to help them identify innovative strategies and best practices for engagement. We also identified gaps and barriers to current engagement approaches and recommended participatory processes for coastal resilience planning. The final Community and Tribal Engagement Plan that we delivered to the COHORT provides actionable recommendations to guide their engagement efforts across Washington’s 15 coastal counties and with tribal nations. The plan will help the COHORT center meaningful, accessible, and culturally grounded engagement practices in its work, thus strengthening local participation and perspectives in coastal resilience efforts throughout the state.