Today, coastal cities around the world face a range of dynamic regional and global pressures. These pressures make coastal cities more vulnerable to flooding, storm surges, coastal erosion, and more. Global change pressures serve as threat multipliers thus increasing existing problems for these cities. The Tampa Bay region is one of these coastal areas that will become more vulnerable in the future, hence the critical need to improve its resiliency. Tampa Bay's key vulnerabilities related to water include:

• Urban flooding events caused by heavy rainfall induce frequent but limited local damage
• Storm surges caused by hurricanes. Occurrence probability is low but as high-impact events, they can lead to catastrophic flooding along the entire coast.
• Sea level rise caused by climate change. As a long-term driver, it will increase existing flooding problems.

The goal of Resilient Tampa Bay 2011 was to exchange ideas on developing resiliency plans for the Tampa Bay region. The challenge was to consider plans that would protect vital infrastructure, improve conditions for economic development, and minimize the impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters. Key issues addressed were:

• Determining the factors that make Tampa Bay vulnerable
• Establishing progress toward improving resiliency in Tampa Bay
• Understanding existing visions and solutions for improving resiliency in Tampa Bay
• Recommending the next steps for improving resiliency in Tampa Bay

As part of an ongoing effort to engage Dutch water experts in addressing resiliency challenges in Tampa Bay, we partnered closely with the Dutch Consulate in Miami and the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C., to secure the participation of several Dutch speakers who shared some of their most effective and reliable solutions for flood resiliency. The Patel Center has been instrumental in establishing a dialogue between Dutch water experts and their counterparts in the Tampa Bay region through two previous workshops in June 2009 and November 2009. Resilient Tampa Bay 2011 built upon the momentum created from the prior workshops and will serve as a springboard to launch ongoing resiliency planning efforts in our region.

Resilient Tampa Bay 2011 was made possible with the help of its planning committee, sponsors, and partners.

A major workshop outcome was the agreement amongst key participants to continue working on improving Tampa Bay resiliency efforts. Recognizing that the February workshop was a first step in a long process, the stakeholders expressed their commitment to moving the planning forward. To achieve impact, the process should be supported by broad and inclusive stakeholder engagement. The Patel Center remains committed to convening stakeholders around Tampa Bay's resiliency planning. Contact Bessie Skoures to get involved.

Mark your calendars for the Coastal Cities Summit 2012 on April 30-May 3, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The summit will be a terrific follow up to the Resilient Tampa Bay 2011 workshop and will focus on challenges and solutions for coastal cities in the context of global change pressures. The summit will focus on best practices, smart development under a changing climate, urbanization, population growth, and vulnerable communities, maritime and port security as well as coastal energy alternatives. Resilient Tampa Bay developments will also be featured. View the summit flyer here.

A complete program for Resilient Tampa Bay 2011 can be found here and biographies of speakers and panelists can be viewed here. Additionally, you can view photos from the event here.

February 22 workshop presentations by keynote speakers and Dutch experts on solutions to improve resiliency:

• PowerPoint presentations
• Keynote speaker videos (coming soon)
• Speaker biographies

February 23 workshop lessons learned/geo-focal group outcomes and summaries:

• Major workshop recommendations
• Tampa Bay Region discussion
• Gulf Beach Communities discussion
• City of Tampa discussion
• City of St. Petersburg discussion

• "USF, Dutch Experts Examine Urban Water Issues" (USF News)
• "Pinellas County Extension Thinking Green: Resilient Tampa Bay 2011"
• "Dutch, U.S. Planners and Scientists Brainstorm Over Sea" (WMNF)
• "Expanding Partnership Opportunities to Reach NEP Goals"
• Dutch Team to Help Make Tampa Bay More Resilient (Bay Soundings)
• "Tampa Bay Sea Level Rise Workshop" (Eco-Voice)
• "USF Water Researchers, Dutch Experts, and Local Officials to Explore Path to Resilient Tampa Bay"
• "USF's Patel Center for Global Solutions, Dutch Experts Share 'Water Story'"

The process of improving resiliency in the Tampa Bay region can be found in several existing studies and plans. Substantive information about the vulnerability of Tampa Bay as well as concepts to improve resiliency can be found here.