Research Will Establish Best ‘Managed Retreat’ Practices for Communities Faced with Climate Change Disaster
Around the globe, communities at risk from repeated flooding due to climate change are facing stark decisions.
Some communities in peril of flooding may resolve, or be urged, to relocate to a safer location — something known as “managed retreat.” In the United States, flood-prone communities in coastal states like Louisiana and Alaska already have commenced managed retreat inland.
“It's retreating from risk, and we hope to provide decision support for the equitable implementation of retreat to build climate resilience,” said Elaina Sutley, associate professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering at the University of Kansas.
Sutley is leading a three-year, $650,000 multidisciplinary study of managed retreat as part of a collaboration funded by the National Science Foundation and Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund via the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Competition. Each agency funds the scientists at institutions in their respective countries.