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 Webinars

Exploratory Scenarios for Hazard Mitigation Planning

December 5, 2024, 12:00 PM CST

CM | 1

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Dealing with uncertainty is a major challenge for planners and floodplain managers. As climate change continues to disrupt historical weather patterns, and natural disasters become increasingly more severe and impactful, communities seek new tools and methods for managing this uncertainty. Exploratory scenario planning is emerging as one of these methods, though its use within hazard mitigation planning is currently limited. APA, as part of a two-year FEMA-funded project, has outlined a series of techniques for better integrating exploratory scenario planning within existing mitigation planning practice and has identified practical examples of its use in the mitigation and adaptation planning fields.

This PIE webinar will demonstrate how exploratory scenario planning can be integrated into the existing mitigation planning process, and how the use of these techniques can lead to stronger long-term mitigation actions and strategies. Additionally, this webinar will present an in-depth case study from Lane County, Oregon, where planners and emergency managers have recently concluded an extensive series of exploratory scenario planning workshops intended to inform their new mitigation plan. This case will provide rare but valuable on-the-ground lessons learned for planners, floodplain managers, and others interested in integrating exploratory scenario planning into their mitigation plans.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Discover how exploratory scenario planning can be applied to the field of hazard mitigation. 
• Understand how the use of exploratory scenario planning differs from traditional hazard mitigation strategies. 
• Hear takeaways from a practitioner who has implemented this methodology in his work in regional government. 

Joseph DeAngelis is a Research Manager at the American Planning Association. Brendan Irsfeld is an Emergency Management Coordinator in Lane County, Oregon. Senna Catenacci is a Research Associate at the American Planning Association.

Past Webinars

View Presentations from Past Webinars

Previous webinars are available to be viewed anytime and anyplace 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)