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This article sets forth the proposition for a digital civic universe (DCU) as a both common data ontology and a hybrid spatial medium for integrating the three and four dimensions of state-sponsored climate adaptation plans, civic adaptation realities and design interventions in the built environment. The authors, taking the U.S. as example, state that City Adaptation Maps (CAM) and National Adaptation Maps (NAM) conceptualized as a DCU platform could offer new ways for designing an adaptive and sustainable future., Keenan, J.M., Jover, M., & Ali, S.O. (2021). Climate Futures and the Digital Civic Universe. Topos: The International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. 117(1), 30-35.

Keenan, J.M. (2020). Promise to Progress in the Ecological Medium. In Reed, C. & Lister, N. M. E. (Eds.). Projective Ecologies. 2nd Edition. New York, NY.: Harvard University Graduate School of Design / ACTAR. &nbsp

There are a number of cities in the U.S. that arguably represent superior set of quantitative and qualitative characteristics for accelerating this merger of people, culture and capital. Whether it is a function of environmental impact, resource depletion, regional economic growth, labor and wage elasticities, or simplythings like the availability of potable water, there are any number of factors that may be weighted by households in the processing of determining if, when and where to relocate. For those households with some measure of elective mobility, this can be framed within a broader set of climactic and consumer-oriented amenities. Very often these consumer preferences are shaped within a broader context of global change that adds additional weights to an aging society, income inequality and social marginalization. While there are many potential factors, it could be argued that the most reductive forms of influence may relate to whether a receiving zone—where climate migrants move to—is affordable, accessible and authentic. This paper highlights one experimental project (2018–2019) that sought to connect climate demography and economic development marketing, as mediated by the consumption of the built environment and the formulation of a visual brand identity. This exploratory project started with two simple questions. How could Duluth, Minnesota market itself to attract climate migrants (hereinafter “climigrants”)? What is Duluth’s capacity to physically, economically and socially adapt?

This book serves as a guide for local governments and private enterprises as they navigate the unchartered waters of investing in climate change adaptation and resilience. This book serves not only as a resource guide for identifying potential funding sources but also as a roadmap for asset management and public finance processes. It highlights practical synergies between funding mechanisms, as well as the conflicts that may arise between varying interests and strategies. While the main focus of this work is on the State of California, this book offers broader insights for how states, local governments and private enterprises can take those critical first steps in investing in society's collective adaptation to climate change.

This paper explores the legal and financial viability of a series of state trust funds designed to provide financial products to support interventions advanced in the name of climate change adaptation and resilience in the New York Metropolitan Region. The subject financial model, known as a Regional Resilience Trust Fund (RRTF), would be governed by a Regional Resilience Commission (RRC) made up of political appointees from the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who would serve as stewards of each state’s respective trust fund. This paper evaluates the proposition that the RRTF could be feasibly capitalized by a surcharge on certain regulated insurance lines (Proposition A). Second, based on the assumed validity of the First Proposition, the paper evaluates the proposition that the RRTF could sustainably support a range of financial products, including grants, low-cost loans, non-recourse loans and market-rate loans that could accommodate 100% of the states’ unmet resilience needs, as defined by existing disaster resilience plans (Proposition B). The findings of this research support an affirmation of the legal and financial feasibility of the RRTF pursuant to Proposition A. Consistent with Proposition B, this paper provides evidence in support of a sustainable portfolio strategy for products supporting a range of potential projects, from short-term community resilience planning to long-term infrastructure finance. With the exception of Connecticut, the modeled assumptions of the RRTF could not support an affirmation of the proposition that a RRTF could fulfill 100% of the unmet resilience needs of the states. However, the findings do support an alternative proposition that the RRTF may be able to accommodate a significant portion of unmet resilience needs. This paper provides a broader strategic understanding of how products and portfolios can be designed to operate in the uncertainties associated with climate change.