The Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit was featured in the February Global Environmental Health newsletter from the National Institute of Environmental Health. In an article about web-based systems that can help local governments prepare for climate change, ERIT is cited as an example of how the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X) can be adapted by other institutions to provide customized strategies to build resilience to climate change.
ERIT is the first localized version of ARC-X. It uses the ARC-X framework to provide information that is relevant to local governments in the Midwest who possess limited capacity for climate change adaptation planning. Midwestern local governments, such as Huntingburg, Indiana, have been using ERIT to prepare for environmental change in their communities.
As ARC-X works to help all communities in the U.S. prepare for climate change, the EPA is encouraging states in other parts of the country to create resources similar to ERIT. An initiative is underway at the University of Albany to create an ERIT-like resource for New York State and to support planning in Puerto Rico. Other universities are also looking into creating their own state-level versions.
