Mitigation, Resilience, Adaptation: Does Language Matter?

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How the regulatory framework for hazard mitigation supports both resilience and climate adaptation
• How to identify similarities and differences between resilience, hazard mitigation, and climate adaptation and how to know which term to use in various situations
• Why the language we use in our profession matters for clear messaging and common understanding, and for national dialogues on important issues

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Resilience has become a buzzword in the planning community, but the reality is that communities have been planning to withstand natural-hazard events for many years – whether or not they used the word resilience. Some people focus on risk reduction through hazard-mitigation planning while others focus on adaptation. How much does the language we use to talk about risk reduction matter? Three member organizations of FEMA’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network (RNPN) will explore the language our field uses around reducing long-term risk to natural hazards, each using their own work as a lens. FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Program will provide the statutory framework for hazards planning, while a representative from Rebuild by Design will use the lens of resilience and a representative from the Georgetown Climate Center will address the perspective of climate adaptation. FEMA’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network is a collaborative network of organizations and individuals united by a common goal to inform, educate, and motivate communities across the country about resilience and the need to take action to protect their communities from the loss of life, property, and prosperity as a result of natural disasters.