Resilient Together

Share Resilient Together on Facebook Share Resilient Together on Twitter Share Resilient Together on Linkedin Email Resilient Together link

Locally, we are experiencing longer, hotter heat waves, more destructive storms, wildfire smoke, and invasive pests. Scientific projections show these challenges will increase in the coming years and decades, with implications for our community’s health and well-being.

Resilient Together is a County, City, and UVA collaborative planning and implementation process designed to ensure our community is strong, safe, and healthy in the face of a changing climate.

Working together will result in a more resilient community.

Natural hazards do not stop and start at the jurisdictional boundaries between Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Studies have shown that we have similar vulnerabilities and challenges. Collaborating will help us to produce better

Locally, we are experiencing longer, hotter heat waves, more destructive storms, wildfire smoke, and invasive pests. Scientific projections show these challenges will increase in the coming years and decades, with implications for our community’s health and well-being.

Resilient Together is a County, City, and UVA collaborative planning and implementation process designed to ensure our community is strong, safe, and healthy in the face of a changing climate.

Working together will result in a more resilient community.

Natural hazards do not stop and start at the jurisdictional boundaries between Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Studies have shown that we have similar vulnerabilities and challenges. Collaborating will help us to produce better, stronger results.

We anticipate the planning effort to take 18 months, resulting in two complementary plans that support each other and recognize the similarities, differences, and unique needs of both jurisdictions.


We are committed to a thriving future for all.

Resilient communities work together to ensure everyone has access to a safe, healthy, and thriving future. Within our area, there are some community members who do not experience the same level of access to public services and therefore may face greater vulnerability during extreme weather events.

For example, individuals who live in homes without air conditioning or access to public parks and street trees will be more exposed to heat waves and lower air quality. Additionally, some individuals face elevated risk due to factors such as age or medical conditions beyond their control.

It's important that we engage with these community members throughout our planning process to ensure that our solutions extend access to services for everyone and reinforce community systems that bolster resilience across the board.


One climate. One community. We need you to get involved.

Your voice matters in this process. Creating effective climate adaptation and resilience plans for the City and County that serve our community requires meaningful collaboration among local government, partner organizations, and you.

Things you can do today include:

  • Human-Centered Design is part of the foundation of the Resilient Together process

    Share Human-Centered Design is part of the foundation of the Resilient Together process on Facebook Share Human-Centered Design is part of the foundation of the Resilient Together process on Twitter Share Human-Centered Design is part of the foundation of the Resilient Together process on Linkedin Email Human-Centered Design is part of the foundation of the Resilient Together process link
    supporting image

    The Resilient Together project utilizes human-centered design principles in several key ways throughout our climate adaptation and resilience planning process:

    1. Emphasis on community engagement: The project places a strong focus on involving community members at every stage, from discovery to implementation. This aligns with the human-centered design principle of putting people at the center of the process.
    2. Inclusive participation: The project aims to create welcoming and inclusive participation opportunities for all community members, ensuring diverse perspectives are considered. This reflects the human-centered design approach of understanding and addressing the needs of various stakeholders.
    3. Storytelling and experience sharing: During the discovery phase, the project encourages community members to share their personal stories and experiences related to climate change impacts. This aligns with the human-centered design principle of developing empathy and understanding user experiences.
    4. Iterative process: The project follows a phased approach (Discover, Define, Design, Decide, Do) that allows for continuous refinement based on community input and feedback. This iterative nature is a key aspect of human-centered design.
    5. Collaborative problem-solving: The project involves multiple stakeholders, including community members, partner organizations, and government staff, in developing resilience strategies and actions. This collaborative approach is central to human-centered design.
    6. Focus on local context: By considering the specific vulnerabilities and challenges of the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area, the project demonstrates a commitment to understanding and addressing local needs.
    7. Addressing equity: The project recognizes that some community members may face greater vulnerability to climate impacts and seeks to engage with these groups to ensure equitable solutions. This aligns with the human-centered design principle of designing for inclusivity.
    8. Prototyping and testing: The "Do" phase involves implementing strategies, monitoring progress, and evaluating success, which reflects the human-centered design approach of testing and refining solutions.

    By incorporating these human-centered design elements, the Resilient Together project aims to create climate adaptation and resilience plans that are truly responsive to the needs and experiences of the local community.

  • September 2023 Newsletter

    Share September 2023 Newsletter on Facebook Share September 2023 Newsletter on Twitter Share September 2023 Newsletter on Linkedin Email September 2023 Newsletter link

    We are excited to announce the launch of Resilient Together, a new collaboration between Albemarle County, the City of Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia.

    Resilient Together is a collaborative planning and implementation effort designed to ensure our community is strong, safe, and healthy in the face of a changing climate.

    Locally, we are experiencing longer, hotter heat waves, more destructive storms, wildfire smoke, and invasive pests. Scientific projections show these challenges will increase in the coming years and decades, with implications for our community’s health and well-being.

    We know that natural hazards do not stop and start at the jurisdictional boundaries between Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Studies have shown that we have similar vulnerabilities and challenges. Collaborating will help us to produce better, stronger results.

    About the Project

    Through this project, we seek to define resilience, identify opportunities, and design strategies to build resilience.

    We can think about resilience in terms of preparedness, emergency response, and recovery -- before, during, and after a severe weather event. Building resilience starts with identifying strengths (where the community is working well) and gaps (where there is a need for improvement) in how we prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters or extreme weather events.

    This project will build on community strengths.

    Our community possesses numerous strengths we can leverage to build resilience to the impacts of climate change. These include neighborhood groups, local businesses, service-oriented nonprofits, schools, local governments, and informal mutual aid networks among community members, to name a few.

    Solutions can take many forms, such as protecting and enhancing tree cover to provide cooling shade during a heat wave to increasing the capacity of emergency responders during a flooding event.

    Through this planning process, we will gather input from community members, nonprofits, businesses, and local government staff to identify strategies that build on strengths and address needs for meeting the challenges that climate change is bringing to our region.

    The planning effort will take approximately 18 months, resulting in two complementary plans that support each other and recognize the similarities, differences, and unique needs of both jurisdictions.

    One Climate. One Community. We need you to get involved.

    Your voice matters in this process. Creating effective climate adaptation and resilience plans for the City and County that serve our community requires meaningful collaboration among local government, partner organizations, and you.

    Things you can do today include:

    • Visit our project website to get informed about the topics, share your input, and learn about upcoming opportunities to participate.

    • Save the Date! Our Community Kick-off and Open House is on Tuesday, September 26th from 4-7 pm at Carver Recreation Center.

Page last updated: 26 Jul 2024, 07:41 PM