Planning Information Exchange

Project Overview

With a new award agreement granted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the successful Planning Information Exchange (PIE) webinar series has been extended for two additional years, starting October 1, 2022. APA will continue to lead in an agreement with FEMA, with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) as a partner. The quarterly webinars will continue to revolve around four central themes:

• The information exchange focuses on all hazards.
• The information exchange focuses on mitigation planning and its connections with recovery planning and preparedness.
• APA and ASFPM act as co-conveners of all planning exchange webinars. This means both will use their respective web-based meeting platforms to set up, register, drive, facilitate, record, and provide technical support for all webinar meetings.
• Planning exchange hosts select topics and commit to moderating, presenting, and leading the planning exchange webinars.

Upcoming Webinar

25 Years of the Disaster Mitigation Act: Now What?

October 20, 2025, 11:30 AM CST

Register

CM | 1.5

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) established mitigation planning as the foundation for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to understand and reduce their risk from natural hazards. This landmark legislation was passed by Congress in October 2000, and today more than 25,000 jurisdictions have plans approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of DMA 2000, this expert panel reviews the progress made since it became law, the lessons learned (and not learned) through two decades of applied research and practice, and how practitioners are currently using and expanding upon this national planning framework to create more resilient communities for all. The panel also considers the next 25 years, identifying the key challenges and opportunities for planners, emergency managers, and their collaborative partners in the face of climate change and a shifting federal landscape. Presenters share practical guidance, research findings, and proven methods for building hazard resilience while advancing equity, inclusion, and innovation.

An interactive discussion with the audience includes a diverse panel of experts representing national, state, and local perspectives, and is facilitated by a moderator with nearly 30 years of experience in supporting hazards planning at all levels of government.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the evolution of hazards planning and how to apply emerging best practices and governance models for achieving long-term disaster risk reduction.
• Create collaborative partnerships across sectors to develop and implement impactful solutions that address multiple risk and resilience challenges.
• Achieve more actionable and equitable outcomes through more inclusive planning, decision-making, and implementation processes for building community resilience.

Amy Bidwell is the Principal Hazard Mitigation Planner for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Anne Miller is the Director of the Colorado Resiliency Office. Darrin Punchard is the principal and owner of Punchard Consulting. Gavin Smith is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University. Kevin Currie is a Training Coordinator at the Association for State Floodplain Managers.

Meet the Presenters

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Presenter

Amy Bidwell

Amy Bidwell has a master's degree in Geography from the University of South Florida and serves as the Principal Hazard Mitigation Planner for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Her role with the Council involves hazard mitigation planning, vulnerability assessments, resiliency planning, and emergency preparedness. She has an emergency management, hazard mitigation, and floodplain management background at the local government level leading large planning efforts and projects throughout the region.

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Presenter

Anne Miller

Anne Miller, AICP is the Director of the Colorado Resiliency Office (CRO) in the Department of Local Affairs. The CRO supports local governments in building stronger, safer, and more resilient communities in the face of natural disasters and other major challenges. She has over 25 years of community development experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Anne has worked in Colorado and across the nation to build adaptive and sustainable communities. She has a Master's of Urban Planning and Policy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and founding member of the American Planning Association's Sustainable Communities Division. Anne serves as an ex-officio member of the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code Board and a board member of the Colorado Natural Disaster Mitigation Enterprise.

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Presenter

Darrin Punchard

Darrin Punchard, FAICP, CFM is an urban planning and resilience strategy consultant who has spent his career working to prevent natural hazards from becoming disasters. For nearly 30 years he has combined his expertise in community planning, hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, and disaster recovery to help clients solve their greatest risk and resilience challenges. Through his work, Darrin has influenced policy and practice at local, state, and national levels by exemplifying the importance of applied research and innovation in disaster risk reduction. He prepared some of the nation's first hazard mitigation plans in compliance with the US Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and has assisted hundreds of communities in similar efforts, with emphasis on integrated and participatory planning. Darrin co-founded the American Planning Association's Hazard Mitigation & Disaster Recovery Division, served six years on the board of directors for the National Hazard Mitigation Association, and currently serves as the Region 1 Director for the Association of State Floodplain Managers.

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Presenter

Gavin Smith

Gavin Smith is a Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University. His teaching and research focus on hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate change adaptation, and the integration of research and practice through deep community engagement. Educational efforts focus on the oversight and teaching of courses associated with a 13-credit graduate certificate titled Disaster Resilient Policy, Engineering, and Design. The curricula emphasize interdisciplinary coursework and includes three track options (policy, engineering, and design) developed in partnership with the Department of Public Administration, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning.

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Moderator

Senna Catenacci

Senna Catenacci is a Research Associate at the American Planning Association with a focus on APA's grant-funded projects and Foresight initiative, primarily in helping with the development of the annual Trend Report. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with degrees in Environment and Political Science.

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Past Webinars

View Presentations from Past Webinars

Previous webinars are available to be viewed anytime and from any place shortly after their debut.

• The Role of Community Foundations in Disaster Mitigation (September 18, 2024) CM | 1
• National Risk Index Applications in Hazard Mitigation Planning: Practitioner Case Studies (May 15, 2024) CM | 1
• Cross-Agency Coordination for Effective Hazard Mitigation and Recovery (December 15, 2023) CM | 1.5
• The Only Constant is Change: Hazard Mitigation Updates (May 18, 2023) CM | 1.5
• Foresight and Scenario Planning for Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation (October 31, 2022) CM | 1
• Lost In Planning: Interdependent Vulnerabilities And Compounding Climate Threats (September 27, 2022) CM | 1
• Equitable Hazard Mitigation: Practice-Informed Recommendations for Change (July 25, 2022) CM | 1
• New Research on State Resilience Planning Practices (May 26, 2022) CM | 1
• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: A Primer for Planners and Floodplain Managers (December 15, 2021) CM | 1
• Addressing Urban Heat at Regional and Local Scales (October 15, 2021) CM | 1
• The Law's the Limit: Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Local Government (September 3, 2021) CM | 1.5
• Linking Conservation and the FEMA Community Rating System: Tools to Protect Habitat, Enhance Coastal Resilience and Reduce Flood (April 15, 2021)
• USACE Inundation Mapping (December 18, 2020)
• Planning for Wildfire: From Assessing Risk to Long-Term Mitigation (November 20, 2020)
• Visualization and Datasets for Flood Loss Reduction (October 27, 2020)
• Increasing Our Resiliency to Urban Flooding (November 21, 2019)
• Planning for Drought and Cascading Hazards (August 15, 2019)
• Go Green with GASB62! (April 25, 2019)
• Flood Economics (February 13, 2019)
• Current Research Topics in Disasters, Hazard Mitigation, and Resilience (October 9, 2018)
• Flood Risk Reduction: Putting Planning Into Practice (July 18, 2018)
• The Fire/Flood Dynamic: Linkages, Tools, and Actions (May 15, 2018)
• Flood Hazard Mitigation in Historic Districts (January 31, 2018)
• Planning Integration for Resilience Scorecard (October 4, 2017)
• Naturally Resilient Communities (May 30, 2017)
• Post-Disaster Temporary Housing: Urban Planning Considerations (March 23, 2017)
• Subdivision Design and Flood Hazard Areas (December 2, 2016)
• State Resiliency Initiatives: From Issue to Action! (September 22, 2016)
• Combining Climate Adaptation and Hazard Mitigation Plans (July 7, 2016)
• Know Your Dam Risk! (May 6, 2016)
• Adapting Urban Vacant Land to Mitigate Hazards (February 26, 2016)
• Hazard Mitigation Implementation (December 10, 2015)
• Hazards Planning and Resilience: The Elected Official's Perspective (October 19, 2015)
• Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience (June 30, 2015)
• The Role of Hazard Mitigation in Post-Disaster Recovery (May 6, 2015)