Georgetown Climate Center Joins FEMA Region IX in Announcing Level Up Audio Project

Storytelling works better than facts alone when motivating people to act. Stories allow people to form an emotional connection, to learn from other communities’ challenges and solutions, and to wonder, “How could this work in my community?”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region IX produced the Level Up Audio Project to support local conversations about hazard risk and resilience, empower communities to advance resilience, strengthen a network of hazard mitigation and climate adaptation professionals, and inspire action. Level Up discusses themes including:

• Climate change;
• Equity, environmental justice, and social resilience;
• Hazard mitigation;
• Ecosystems and natural resilience; and more.

The Georgetown Climate Center is partnering with FEMA Region IX to make the audio series available. This collaboration grew out of the natural connections between FEMA’s mission to reduce impacts of disasters, and the Georgetown Climate Center’s work to help state and local leaders make their communities more resilient to changes in the climate that exacerbate disaster impacts. As a resource to states and local governments on climate change adaptation, GCC helps policymakers and practitioners identify best practices in adaptation policy, including in hazard mitigation and post-disaster contexts through legal and policy analysis, and through GCC’s Adaptation Clearinghouse.

The Level Up series features 10- to 15-minute conversations with individuals on the United States’ West Coast who are making hazard mitigation planning and action a priority in communities. Tune in to hear how:

• An immigrants’ rights organization in California made sure all members of the community were able to rebuild following the Thomas Fire;
• The City of Santa Cruz integrated climate adaptation and hazard mitigation planning processes to ensure more coordinated implementation;
• The City of Tehama stacked various funding sources to elevate homes and protect the community from floods; and more.

Listen to all five Level Up episodes on the GCC website, or via podcast distributors like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify. If you have topics to suggest for future episodes or would like to get involved, please contact FEMA Region IX at fema-r9-mitigation-planning@fema.dhs.gov or GCC Senior Associate Annie Bennett (bennett@georgetown.edu).

Listen to Episode 1: Resilience and Environmental Justice - CAUSE

Hazard mitigation efforts often focus on property and infrastructure, but every community’s most important resource is its people. Lucas Zucker, the policy and communications director for the California-based organization Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, or CAUSE, talks about ways communities can support low-income and immigrant populations before, during, and after hazard events. (Click here to learn more about FEMA assistance programs and eligibility.)

Themes: Climate change; disadvantaged communities, equity, and social resilience; mitigation planning

Episode 1 Transcript

All episodes now available