Abstract
The Resilient305 Collaborative is a joint academic-government research partnership among Florida International University (FIU), Miami-Dade College (MDC), University of Miami (UM), and government and non-government organization (NGO) leaders of the Greater Miami Beach Area. The Collaborative is piloting a research strategy focused on an area of GM&B dubbed the “Little River to North Beach Resilience District.” This diverse area spans communities with varying degrees of exposure to natural hazards, socioeconomic conditions, and technological capacities. In this project, I have focused on community-engaged research (in the form of focus groups) to understand what these communities need to transform resilience strategies into longterm adaptations for the future. The literature review comprehensively analyzes what Resilient305 Collaborative has done in the past and how the focus groups will play into the bigger picture of resilience work. The focus groups were created within my work at FIU’s Sea Level Solutions Center and the NOAA Adaptation Sciences team; these groups will span a variety of communities in the resilience district. The NOAA AdSci team was created to advance the knowledge and frameworks to move society beyond incremental adaptation towards widespread adaptive pathways and resilience strategies. Ultimately, findings from the focus iii groups were analyzed to see how best to move R305 forward. This study has merit due to the ever-changing effects of our world and the rapidly developing effects of climate change. Since these effects will not be slowing down anytime soon, the resilience work created for coastal metropolitan cities (like Miami) in the U.S. must be able to ensure adaptation and improve the quality of life for residents.