Resilient Shores: Adapting to Climate Change Through Storytelling

This book uses a fictional but realistic story of a coastal community relocating in the face of climate risk to illustrate how to make climate conversations happen, what those conversations can look like, and how to move from discussion to action. The book targets those who may feel that climate risks are nearly impossible to discuss, let alone achieve.

By addressing risks as stories, communities can be better prepared to discuss and face climate change directly and comprehensively. Whether the attendee’s community consists of family, friends, or work colleagues, are anchored to a specific physical place, we will have little choice but to adapt—reducing risks, increasing your ability to bounce back, or reorganizing to a new normal.

The book demonstrates, not merely tells, why building personal stores can resolve problems, become dreams, and transition into achievable plans. After all, plans are merely repurposed stories with aspirational themes, where the reveal is included within the first few paragraphs. We feel that storytelling offers a way to address a future that may be impossible for many to address in, any other way. Expected changes to our future weather demands we think of recreating our future differently. Storytelling can provide an emotionally safe way to proceed individually and communally.

Resilient Shores can be thought of as three books. It is a success story of how a community moves to safe ground. It is an instructional guide for inspired readers to help them create, or recreate their own, aspirational stories highlighting more realistic futures. It also shows how a public process can be fashioned to build trust and raise issues supporting their quest for resilience.

Flooding brings deep loss and trauma. Resilient Storytelling offers a hopeful risk management tool for healing and providing a pathway forward. —Larry Larson, Director Emeritus, ASFPM

Hazard experts use data to study disasters, while the public connects through stories. Resilient Shores shows how storytelling can deepen understanding and guide stronger solutions. —James C. Schwab, FAICP, retired APA Hazards Planning Manager and University of Iowa adjunct professor.

As climate threats grow, this book helps us find common ground for a just, sustainable future. —Lori Peek, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Director, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder

Resilient Shores, through storytelling, provides a way to bridge climate policy and community experience, guiding us toward united, resilient action. —Thomas Ruppert, Assistant Provost for Coastal Resilience, William & Mary

Bob Freitag was the Director of the Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research (IHMP) and an instructor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington (UW). Recognized for his contributions to education and disaster planning, he has received the Outstanding Part-time Instructor Award from the department and the Jerry Louthain Award for Distinguished Service from the Association of State Floodplain Managers. He has developed and taught courses for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC), and the University of Washington, specializing in community resilience, hazards mitigation and floodplain management. Before joining UW, he served with FEMA, deploying on over 50 Federal Disaster Declarations. His final role with FEMA Region 10 was as a Federal Coordination Officer, overseeing response efforts.