FSU Indigenous knowledge workshop discusses challenges in building resilient coastal communities 

Florida State University recently hosted “Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge,” a free workshop exploring the concept of adaptive resilience for the Florida Gulf’s coastal communities, with a focus on the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge.

The event was part of a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (RCN) award project focused on resilient rural infrastructure. Its goal was to foster a new understanding of the complex interactions among key elements of community resilience in rural coastlines and inland areas to adapt to an ever-changing climate and potential natural disasters.

“This RCN project is about creating connections all over the United States, in addition to Florida, to develop disaster resilience actions, tools, strategies, plans and policies — with a focus specifically on our rural areas,” said Eren Erman Ozguven, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, director of the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center and principal investigator on this project. “When you talk about rural areas, there are many different vulnerable populations that we need to consider.”

In 2022, Ozguven held a workshop with a focus on Hurricane Michael’s impact on rural areas in the Panhandle. Gathering leading community members, government, industry and researchers, this workshop provided insight on how to bridge the “resilience divides” these rural communities have been facing.

“We are now getting into the discussion with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and how Indigenous communities cope with disasters, learning from them, and we also hope to help them as well,” he said. “They have a way of enduring these events — so it is a way to gather their knowledge into disaster planning.”

“Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge” brought together experts from across FSU, including the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and its RIDER Center, the College of Social Work, the Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center.

Representatives from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty, FEMA, Florida A&M University Emergency Management and FSU Emergency Management were present as members of an emergency management professionals panel.

The post FSU Indigenous knowledge workshop discusses challenges in building resilient coastal communities  appeared first on Florida State University News.