CIRCA's supports communities working to enhance the resilience of their natural and human environments. To that end, we work in partnership with municipalities, agencies, non-profits, regional organizations, consultants, and many stakeholders throughout the state. The Institute also relies on partnerships with UConn faculty and other academic institutions to maintain our active research and engagement programs.
Our engagement guiding principles include:
- Seek to understand stakeholder interests and needs
- Co-create knowledge with collaborators and stakeholders
- Collect and utilize stakeholder input to establish a foundation and next steps for resilience planning
- Focus on developing resources and capacity that meet the needs of communities
Resilient Connecticut
Much of CIRCA's activity since 2018 has been part of Resilient Connecticut Engagement and involves the following:
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- Workshops and Summits - Events are hosted regularly throughout the project and include annual Resilient Connecticut Summits with diverse organizations, workshops on more specific topics, and trainings on the use of technical tools.
- Webinars are an opportunity to share new products, connect with stakeholders, and share climate change vulnerability & adaptation knowledge among decision-makers. Webinars happen regularly between events and are recorded for later viewing.
- Advisory Groups serve important functions throughout the Resilient Connecticut Project. CIRCA works directly with 4 COGS in New Haven and Fairfield counties to review and deliver tools and information to municipalities and prioritize regional resilience projects. CIRCA also coordinates regular meetings of state agencies through SAFR, convenes a Resilient Connecticut Collaborative, and participates in the state's GC3 Working Groups and State Agencies Fostering Resilience (SAFR)
- Capacity Building - CIRCA works with partners and capacity building research teams to develop planning tools (policy white papers, fact sheets, case studies) and technical tools (data viewers).
Presentations
CIRCA’s research projects and funding programs are aimed at addressing the needs of communities in Connecticut when it comes to climate adaptation. To accomplish this goal, the Institute’s staff regularly speaks at conferences and municipal meetings. If you would like to speak with the staff of CIRCA or invite us to an event that your organization is hosting, please contact us at circa@uconn.edu
Stay in Touch
In order to provide communities with the latest news, reports, tools, and funding opportunities, CIRCA delivers a monthly newsletter, the Resilience Roundup, directly to your email inbox. Sign Up to start receiving these regular updates and news!
If you want to be the first to know about events and programs that CIRCA is launching, sign up for our announcements listserv.
You can also check our website’s homepage for our featured projects and announcements, attend one of our events, watch videos on our YouTube page, and follow us on social media by clicking on the Twitter or Facebook icons at the bottom of this page.