Integrative Approaches to Climate Resilience Planning: Application of a Plan Evaluation Framework

In the last two decades, urban governments have streamlined and prioritized the creation and implementation of climate resilience plans to cater to the communities' vulnerabilities. Existing research illustrates that there is a gap in understanding how, or if, empirical (evidence-based) data are incorporated into the design and implementation of such plans and the extent to which their inclusion impacts outcomes in terms of vulnerability reduction. There is also a gap in the systematic study of their outcomes in terms of community resilience, and whether equity and environmental justice are promoted as priorities. The purpose of the research is to understand the status of evidence-based empirical data inclusion in the structure of climate resilience plans and the ways in which it impacts outcomes in terms of vulnerability reduction, and to provide suitable tools to decision-makers and community members for enhancing resilience in the face of climate-change induced events. My argument is that empirical data are critical in identifying place-based problems, determining solutions, and providing evidence to support decision-making and scientific discoveries. Another purpose is to understand the extent to which climate resilience plans prioritize community resilience creation while promoting environmental justice and equity. For this purpose, I examine 15 US-based climate adaptation plans, focus on the two plans for Seattle and San Francisco for further examination, and then critically analyze the City of Portland and Multnomah County's Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2015, using the aforementioned plans as guidance and comparison tools. Adopting thematic analysis as the method, I used the ATLAS.ti platform for coding the two reference plans of Seattle and San Francisco, identified codes and themes relevant to the research in the reference plans, and matched them to the existing themes in the City of Portland and Multnomah County's Climate Action Plan, 2015, thereby identifying gaps and scope for improvement. Additionally, to gain experience-based insights, I conducted semi-structured interviews with two sets of participants - experts who have been involved in climate-based decisions in Multnomah County, and members of community-based organizations in Portland, Oregon who represent the most vulnerable community members. Thematic analysis, systematic coding, and interview insights enabled me to develop relationship networks between the existing conditions of empirical data, community resilience, and equity in the reference plans, ultimately allowing me to develop a framework for evaluating climate resilience plans. Therefore, the outcome of this research is the application of a framework for plan evaluation that could serve as a reliable and flexible model for evaluating a wide variety of climate resilience plans, with a strong emphasis on the inclusion of empirical and evidence-based data, community resilience creation, and equity and environmental justice in their implementation and evaluation. The overarching goal of the research is to add to the current understanding of how the inclusion of empirical data, the adoption of community resilience, and the promotion of equity and environmental justice as priorities influence resilience plan outcomes in terms of vulnerability reduction.