Building Coast-Smart Communities Summit

Interactive Summit for Coastal Leaders Planned for Annapolis, Md.

On Monday, April 27, 2009, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary John Griffin will welcome hundreds of key coastal leaders to Annapolis for a half day summit entitled “Building Coast-Smart Communities: How Will Maryland Adapt to Climate Change?”

The high-visibility event will take place at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This interactive summit is designed as an innovative simulated negotiation intended to recreate the decisions facing coastal communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of Climate Change.

“With over 4,000 miles of coastline, we cannot wait to tackle this threat,” said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. “Here in Maryland we are aggressively implementing initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that will provide benefits long into the future; however, we must also ensure our communities are “Coast-Smart” now — ready, adaptive and resilient.”

The simulation will be based on a hypothetical Maryland community that reflects the reality of many of our coastal towns and cities.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

* Witness firsthand how diverse community stakeholders can negotiate agreements to address the challenge of climate change coastal impacts.
* Quickly learn more about the choices communities face as they adapt to risks.
* Learn new negotiating skills, and practice them in a safe environment
* Gain knowledge about other community stakeholders’ viewpoints and concerns

This initial event will create a network of community leaders who can replicate the simulation process in their own community while coordinating and learning from other Maryland coastal communities..

To learn more about the effects of Climate Change in Maryland, visit the Coast-Smart website at http://maryland.coastsmart.org/?page_id=22.

Interested coastal leaders can register for the summit at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey.zgi?p=WEB228WP55G52L or call 410-260-8743.