2026 Reports

Fair and Accountable Adaptation Planning: 5 key roles for co-governance

Gallay, Paul; Baird-Zars, Bernadette Virginia; Lee, Hoi Nam Hellas; Ding, Amelia

Frontline communities demand and deserve protection from flooding, along with repair from past harms, celebration of strengths, and fair planning processes (Morris et al. 2024). While large-scale investments are necessary for coastal flood adaptation, advocates emphasize the importance of integrating the strengths of residents and community-based organizations alongside governmental agencies (ibid). Yet relatively little research to date has foregrounded the specific components of the networks and initiatives that have protected frontline communities beyond formal plans, which frequently lag in participation and ‘justice issues’ (Rekien et al. 2023). Addressing this research gap is urgent: urban flood adaptation epitomizes many of the built-in challenges of equitable action, with complex and compounding factors that are highly contextual at the physical and social scale, block to block, and creek to creek (Sun et al. 2024); and which are particularly sharp for frontline and environmental justice communities (Liao et al. 2019). Nevertheless, equity remains amorphous in most adaptation plans (Angelo et al. 2022), and coastal adaptation processes continue to prioritize short-term, hierarchical relationships and transactional exchanges (e.g. USACOE 2025).

Building off a multi-year co-produced research project involving a partnership between a university and an umbrella environmental justice organization, this white paper examines the experiences of 32 cases of flood adaptation nationwide that have been described as successful from the point of view of communities themselves. The research team conducted interviews with 22 leaders that participated in these processes, across state agencies, consultancies, local government and community-based organizations, selected using snowball sampling. Findings were then analyzed for key common themes and elements and refined in collaboration with participants in a collaborative workshop. We define these spaces as those that marshal the resources of the many entities involved and simultaneously advocate for the protection and inclusion of groups historically left out of formulas, investment, and protection in coastal adaptation planning. Further, our results suggest that equitable actions stem from long-term relationships and networks of respect underpinned by values, such as the understanding that everyone engaged brings valuable knowledge and experiences. Further, we identified key roles and arenas for action that dynamically interplay to foster equitable planning processes. These roles - facilitators who connect people and resources, educators who foster knowledge exchanges, mediators who create spaces for diverse stakeholders, challengers who advocate against injustices, and mentors who guide communities to long-term empowerment - collectively inspire new modes of action and lay the foundation for successful, relationship-centered planning.

Keywords: co-production, collaboration, resilience, planning, restorative justice