The Nation’s Coasts: A Vision and Action Agenda for the Future
Southeast Regional Meeting

On Wednesday, December 6, 2006, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, in conjunction with The Center for Humans and Nature, hosted a Southeastern regional workshop in Charleston, South Carolina as part of a national effort to promote sustainability for coastal communities and surrounding regions. About two hundred people, representing multiple groups from the local and regional communities, participated in the public session.

The Nation's Coasts: A Vision and Action Agenda for the Future unites local and national experts on coastal issues, public health, commerce, conservation, transportation, and more to discuss community-based approaches to challenges facing coastal areas. Topics of discussion included the impacts of storms, coastal erosion, and flooding on wetlands, beaches, buildings, and infrastructure, as well as the social and economic health of our coastal communities.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, along with Thomas E. Lovejoy, President of The Heinz Center, and Strachan Donnelley, President of The Center for Humans and Nature, opened the public forum with welcoming remarks. Panelists included: Hugh Lane, president of the Bank of South Carolina, Eleanor Kitzman, the Director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, Dr. Fred Holland, Director of the Hollings Marine Laboratory of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and Dr. Susan Cutter, the Director of the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, among others.

For additional information about the event and the initiative please browse the forum program. As they become available, presentations from the event will be linked to the forum agenda. To view a presentation, please select a panelist name.

In addition to the Charleston public forum, the Heinz Center also organized a small group of regional leaders in business, government and the environment to discuss coastal issues. On December 5, fifty experts gathered at Mepkin Abbey near Moncks Corner, South Carolina. Attendees participated in moderated discussions, exploring topics including climate scenarios for the southeast region, changing coastlines, and social and economic implications of coastal hazards. Presentations from the event will be linked from the Mepkin Abbey agenda.

To learn more about the coastal program please contact Christophe A. G. Tulou, program director, at Tulou@heinzctr.org or (202) 737-6307.