Helping Hoosier Communities Assess Climate Risks

This project's faculty-student team helped local officials in Southwest Central Indiana complete ERI's Hoosier Resilience Index Readiness Assessment. The assessment helped local governments evaluate their preparedness for climate risks and identify and prioritize ways to increase readiness. Collecting and disseminating this data informed communities about emerging threats and identify priorities for coordinated regional or state-level policy solutions. It also deepened ties between IU and local communities and served as a concrete example of a policy-relevant partnership consistent with the CRE's and ERI's (Environmental Resilience Institute) core mission. In addition to these near-term benefits, the project was designed as a proof-of-concept for a larger regional or national data collection effort. Counties involved included Brown, Crawford, Dubois, Daviess, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, and Washington.