Climate change presents a range of risks to communities and homeowners in Southeast Florida. This includes physical risks from increased exposure to climate hazards, such as damage to property and infrastructure from acute events like hurricanes and longer-term climate stressors like more frequent floods or extreme heat days.

Private property owners in the region also face transitional risks based on how society and markets respond to escalating climate risks. This can lead to depreciation of property values over time due to increasing risk awareness and disclosure or changes in insurance availability and cost.

Given these climate-induced  risks to most Americans’ largest asset—their home—it is imperative that property owners are informed and engaged. Fundamentally, reducing risks and building resilience to the impacts of more frequent extreme weather events requires a collaborative framework and shared responsibility between the public sector and private property owners.

To this end, local governments must go beyond their role in shifting development away from hazard-prone areas. They must expand outreach, education, and engagement efforts with residents and property owners to increase understanding of climate-related risks and support informed decision-making around private-property level adaptation measures.

This workshop will advance your understanding of:

• Residential private property retrofits and improvements to reduce property damage and fortify against extreme events
• Best practices and lessons learned for community and residential outreach, education, and engagement as it relates to climate risks
• Case studies from across the region on private property risk mitigation, as well as adaptation grant and technical assistance programs, to advance residential adaptation and mitigation