Coastal Defense App Wins Esri Global Disaster Resilience Challenge

On September 23^rd during Climate Week in New York, The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR along with Esri) announced that the Coastal Defense app, part of the Coastal Resilience tool, won the award for best Professional and Scientific App for disaster risk reduction. See the UN press release

Wahlström, Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, said: “Technology and science have a role to play in making the planet a safer and more resilient place. These apps will empower people across the world to manage the risks associated with extreme weather events fueled by climate change which affect over 100 million people every year. Congratulations are in order to the winners and to Esri for taking this initiative.”

Jack Dangermond, Esri President, announced the award in a session on Resilience – which can be seen on UN Web TV. Jack’s announcement is around minute 34 or so…coverage on “Climate Summit 2014 – Multilateral and multi-stakeholder, Action announcements: Forests, Agriculture and Resilience.”

Background

The Coastal Resilience web-based mapping platform contains “apps” that address specific coastal risk, restoration and adaptation issues. The Coastal Defense app quantifies how natural habitats including oyster and coral reefs, marshes, mangroves, beach dunes and seagrass beds protect coastal areas by decreasing wave-induced erosion and inundation. Esri has chosen Coastal Defense as the winner in their latest app contest in the professional and scientific category.

The app was developed through a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Capital Project, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Southern Mississippi, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

This award is sponsored by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), who launched the Making Cities Resilient Campaign to improve land use and urban planning for 1,800 participating cities worldwide. The contest was to design an app around one or more of the areas on the United Nations Essentials for Making Cities Resilient. Coastal Defense targets the Essential to “protect ecosystems and natural buffers to mitigate floods, storm surges and other hazards to which your city may be vulnerable. Adapt to climate change by building on good risk reduction practices.”

Esri is collaborating with UNISDR on the Making Cities Resilient Campaign and giving these cities access to its desktop and developer technology.

Other Coastal Resilience News:

• Coastal Resilience featured in Esri news: finalist for the Esri Climate Resilience app challenge and in Venture Beat. An accompanying video highlights the tool platform and gives an overview of specific Coastal Resilience apps.
• The Coastal Resilience tool and applications have been featured in a couple Esri publications and at their annual user conference: ArcNews: GIS Helps Integrate Coastal Hazard Risk and Sea Level Rise & ArcWatch: Preparing Coastal Areas for the Upcoming Storms; The Nature Conservancy’s Geospatial Apps Help Make Coastlines Resilient
• List to this podcast from the Esri News Speaker Series podcast, “Building Resilient Communities.”
• Coastal Resilience was featured in minute 37 of the open plenary “Data Visualization Tools for Coastal Resilience” at the 2014 ESRI User Conference