Investing in Resilient Infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico Proceedings of a Workshop (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Part 1 Introduction
Part 1 Introduction
Pages 9-24
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From page 9... ...
Hurricanes, combined with storm surge, rising sea levels, and record rainfall have damaged infrastructure beyond roads and bridges. Water distribution systems, communication networks, and power generation and distribution systems are too frequently knocked offline by these and other weather events and cause serious suffering and harm.
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From page 10... ...
Another workshop-wide takeaway is the prioritization criteria that were developed and form the foundation of a prioritization framework for selecting projects that will increase infrastructure resilience in the Gulf region. They are located in the Summary and elaborated upon in Part 3.
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CONVENING A WORKSHOP To help prioritize among possible investments to improve the resilience of built infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico region, 5 the National Academies convened a diverse group of experts for a 3-day interactive workshop in November 2021. The purpose of the event, Investing in Resilient Infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico Workshop, was to support the National Academies Gulf Research Program (GRP)
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From page 12... ...
Approximately 50 infrastructure, oil and gas, petrochemical, emergency management, and Gulf region experts from federal, state, and local governments; industry; non-governmental organizations; and academia participated in the 3-day workshop. Half of the participants joined Day 1 on November 15 for a set of in-person exercises focused on a hurricane scenario; half of the participants joined Day 2 on November 16 for a set of in-person exercises focused on a protracted oil spill scenario.
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From page 13... ...
He opened the talk by noting that the timing of this workshop could not have been better; many factors that are fueling a "robust and certainly long-overdue dialogue on resilience." Specifically, Tama noted that we, as a nation, have been tested multiple times this past year, witnessing vulnerabilities in our infrastructure and being forced to reconsider what resilience is. These events, along with international and national-level developments such as the 2030 Strength and Resilience Commitment, adopted by the NATO allies at the 2021 Brussels summit, 6 as well as the signing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, add momentum to -- and provide resources for -- efforts to build infrastructure resilience.
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From page 14... ...
The inability to produce or successfully source medical supplies, microprocessors, and fuel can impact critical infrastructure sectors and our national security, and be the difference between life and death. Only through collective resilience, which will require a "shared responsibility across all aspects of our society," will we be able to strengthen our infrastructure and thus, our communities.
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From page 15... ...
She began by recognizing the passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will invest more than one hundred billion dollars per year in infrastructure, giving our nation a rare opportunity "to improve the lives of our people for the coming decades and beyond." But the resources must be spent wisely and effectively, because even with these funds it will be impossible to execute every necessary or valuable infrastructure project. McNutt then shared her perspectives on some challenges to infrastructure investment that came up during Day 1 and Day 2 of the workshop, which are summarized below: • "Improving equity in outcomes is imperative." McNutt acknowledged that communities of color have been disregarded in discussions of resilience for decades and suffer disproportionately more from hazards than other communities.
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From page 16... ...
To accomplish this, the majority of time spent throughout the workshop was dedicated to a series of exercises in small groups organized around the four domains described earlier in this proceedings. As noted previously, on Days 1 and 2, the same set of exercises was conducted, and each focused on a different scenario: Day 1 focused on the hurricane scenario, and Day 2 focused on the protracted oil spill scenario.
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It allowed for the brainstorming of project ideas for further consideration and to be used in subsequent workshop exercises aimed at understanding what participants believe is important in making project prioritization decisions. The Prioritization Exercise The second and final exercise conducted on Days 1 and 2 was the Prioritization Exercise.
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18 FIGURE 1-3 Sample poster board used to drive project brainstorming during exercises on Days 1 and 2 of the workshop.
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Participants provided feedback using a handout provided.9 The Capstone Sessions All participants joined together virtually on Day 3 for a series of capstone sessions and exercises to further build out and refine a set of criteria that would form the foundation of a prioritization framework for infrastructure investments. They compared outputs from both scenarios, elaborated on key criteria, and reexamined that key criteria in light of feasibility and project risk.
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The Prioritization Criteria Feasibility session was the third session of Day 3. This was largely an open discussion about the feasibility of incorporating various prioritization criteria into a prioritization framework.
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THE SCENARIOS Workshop designers prepared detailed scenario narratives to help prompt project brainstorming and prioritization considerations by participants during the workshop. They provided these narratives, along with executive summaries capturing key highlights of each narrative, to participants before the workshop as read-ahead materials.
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From page 24... ...
It also accommodated the individuals who, due to either personal or professional conflicts, were not able to participate in an in-person event. By utilizing online collaboration tools, Day 3 discussions and inputs remained rich and insightful, ultimately achieving all of the workshop objectives.
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