Our Connecting Wildlands and Communities Team (CWC) convened their Technical Advisory Group - a small, but diverse group of regional jurisdiction and conservation planners - to garner feedback on the first round of spatial data focused on Wildfire, Climate, and Connectivity compiled for the CWC project.
The Connecting Wildlands & Communities (CWC) project, funded by the California State Strategic Growth Council through the California Climate Investments initiative, is a collaborative effort of the Institute for Ecological Monitoring and Management (IEMM) at San Diego State University and the Climate Science Alliance. The CWC project brings together an interdisciplinary team of planners, environmental engineers, ecologists, and geographers to explore how connected landscapes can support adaptation and resilience to climate change for both ecosystems and local communities in southern California.
Outreach to and feedback from stakeholders is one of the driving forces in developing this project and the data deliverables that are intended to inform planning across the region. Thus, the CWC team convened a group of Technical Advisors to assist in determining best avenues for integrating CWC work products into planning practice and to review and comment on data and analysis tools being developed by the CWC team.
In the second of several interactive feedback sessions, the technical advisory group reviewed initial outputs from the CWC team covering the topics of Climate, Connectivity, and Wildfire Data. The group provided critical feedback to products on best metrics, data enhancements, and effective delivery methods of the final products. This collaborative process ensures that planner feedback is integrated into each aspect of the project to best meet the needs of the end-users.
Overall, this project takes a comprehensive planning approach to meet State objectives on protecting rural communities, mitigating wildfire risk, supporting water sustainability, and protecting biodiversity. The goal of this research is to provide an integrated planning and decision-making framework that supports multi-benefit landscape-scale planning and facilitates science-informed climate adaptation strategies across the region.