Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the resilience of tourism businesses in a coastal city in the USA to coastal hazards and severe weather events. The researchers developed a framework for assessing the resilience of coastal tourism businesses and demonstrated the applicability of the framework using the case study of Virginia Beach. Design/methodology/approach: Researchers conducted structured, face-to-face interviews with tourism business owners and managers, using an instrument based on an assessment framework with five components: vulnerability, business planning and operations, preparation and recovery planning, communications and workforce. In total, 32 participants representing 42 businesses in the accommodations, restaurants, retail and activities sectors at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront were interviewed. Findings: Many participants did not feel highly vulnerable due to structural mitigation efforts taken by the city. Larger businesses undertook more strategic planning, preparedness and recovery planning. All businesses had effective ways of communicating with staff and customers, and through membership in local organizations, had access to resources. While not all businesses prioritized training for employees, they recognized the importance of providing support for staff during severe weather events. Originality/value: As one of the few studies on tourism resilience in the USA, this study highlights the variability of resilience among tourism businesses within a destination.

Sea Grant programs across the United States and its territories are working with coastal communities to enhance their resilience to hazards and weather extremes exacerbated by climate change. Drawing on the expertise of the authors, many of whom have multiple years or decades of experience in the Sea Grant network, the article identifies five key strategies that Sea Grant programs employ to support the process of coastal hazards and extreme weather adaptation and resilience-building. The application of these strategies, most of which have their roots in the historical legacy of extension, are then illustrated through summaries of current Sea Grant activities and projects, showcasing how they have been applied in real-world situations. These strategies allow Sea Grant programs to fill a unique and valuable niche in national efforts to enhance coastal resilience. The article concludes with a discussion of emerging challenges and recommendations for strengthening Sea Grant’s capacity to support adaptation in coastal communities into the future.

This chapter describes the application of the Action-oriented Stakeholder Engagement for a Resilient Tomorrow (ASERT) framework for communicating with and engaging both residents and community stakeholders in their localities’ efforts to prepare for and to respond to flooding and sea-level rise. The application of ASERT incorporates communication, education/learning, and gamification elements that can be embedded into community meetings. We describe the way in which ASERT community meetings are designed (1) to provide an inclusive and engaging process that will allow residents to participate in their city’s resilience efforts; (2) to provide information about resilience in an environment that encourages social learning, including curiosity and reflection, to promote behavioral change that will result in improved resilience and public support for resilience solutions; and (3) to allow residents to offer real-time perceptions of risk to, and feedback about, resilience solutions in their communities and/or cities. This chapter briefly discusses the ASERT framework, illustrates its application (using two examples from Virginia Beach, Virginia), describes the use of gamification in the community meetings, and provides lessons learned regarding communication and stakeholder engagement efforts targeted at building resilience in coastal communities.

Living shorelines are widely promoted as nature-based solutions to coastal erosion and wetland protection, yet hardened shoreline structures continue to dominate even in jurisdictions with explicit policy mandates prioritizing living shorelines. In this research, we examine why non-optimal shoreline modification outcomes persist in Virginia (USA) despite a regulatory framework designed to promote ecological alternatives. We use primary data from interviews with wetlands board members, marine contractors, and nonprofit organizations and findings from a secondary survey of shoreline property owners to analyze shoreline management as a multi-sector collaborative decision-making process. Findings show that shoreline outcomes are shaped less by individual regulatory decisions than by recurrent interaction mechanisms across sectors that operate upstream of permit review. Contractors play a critical agenda-setting role by shaping the alternatives presented to property owners, while social norms, anticipatory adaptation to regulatory expectations, and informal decision heuristics constrain option sets before projects reach wetlands boards. Formal co-management institutions are therefore asked to arbitrate projects that are already highly constrained, limiting their ability to advance policy goals. Improving policy fidelity requires attention to decision sequencing, intermediary incentives, and structural feedback dynamics, rather than simply refining permitting guidance. Targeting upstream decision points and interaction mechanisms offers greater potential to align shoreline management outcomes with living shoreline policy objectives.