Risk and Resilience Program

Every Tennessee community faces challenges. In the past several years, Tennessee communities have been faced with many extreme weather events from historic flooding to droughts. Communities face other challenges, too: need for improved water infrastructure, decreasing capacity at landfills, community health concerns, transportation snarls, and land use decisions with consequential economic and development impacts. TDEC’s Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices (OPSP) is excited to partner with six Tennessee communities to pilot Risk & Resilience Strategic Planning and Community Engagement Sessions. Our current community partners include: the Town of Stanton, the Town of Spring City, Cocke County, Humphreys County, Montgomery County, and Morgan County.

This program is offering strategic planning, technical assistance-based workshops, and community engagement sessions for its pilot cohort that will support participants in (1) taking stock of their vulnerabilities, needs, and priorities,  (2) identifying a range of federal, state, and local resources available to support the community in its priority areas, and (3) providing technical assistance and community engagement activities. Topics covered in this program include risk-management, resilience planning, environmental stewardship, conservation, smart growth, and sustainability. Based on pilot implementation of the Risk & Resilience Program, OPSP will seek to develop additional resources designed to support communities in their pursuit and achievement of a more sustainable and resilient future. OPSP will also consider potential engagement through future, similar phases of the current pilot program.