October 18, 2019 

In June 2019, the Aspen Institute’s Energy and Environment Program – in partnership with Van Ness Feldman – convened the inaugural Aspen Institute Coastal Resilience Roundtable. This one-day roundtable brought together experts from academia, non-profits, the private sector, and government – including some current members of Congress – to discuss the state of America’s coasts, what is needed to protect them, and how best to ensure their resilience for decades to come. The scope of the roundtable was expansive, and the rich dialogue and exchange of ideas confirmed the value of convening on this topic.

This Coastal Resilience Roundtable report briefly summarizes the core themes and topics discussed at the Coastal Resilience Roundtable. Those themes include:

(1) the state of the coasts;

(2) national security and coastal resilience – opportunities and vulnerabilities;

(3) the role of data in resilience planning; and

(4) insights from state and local officials.

Both the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program and Van Ness Feldman hope to continue convening on coastal resilience and other resilience topics more broadly in order to further unpack these important themes and arrive at scalable, affordable, and effective solutions.