Local governments need access to relevant data and resources to plan for climate change. That’s why the Environmental Resilience Institute launched the ERI Toolkit (ERIT) in 2018. Since then, ERIT has been updated and expanded to include even more relevant planning information for decision-makers in Indiana and the Midwest.

Most recently, ERI staff have made it easier for community leaders to access climate adaptation strategy resources, which provide tangible actions local governments can take to prepare for anticipated and experienced climate change impacts, such as more hot days and extreme rain events.

“To help ERIT users find the information they’re seeking, we simplified our adaptation strategies resource to make it more relevant to Midwest governments,” said Andrea Webster, ERI’s implementation manger. “We also added new content that covers energy, transportation, ecosystem planning, and food and agriculture. Local governments need this kind of information because we know the effects of climate change are only going to get stronger in time.”

ERIT is the first localized version of ARC-X, a resource created by the US Environmental Protection Agency that provides customized strategies to build resilience to climate change. With a focus on Indiana and the Midwest, ERIT has become a model that other states are following to provide region-specific information and resources to communities.

Additional features supported by ERIT include continuously updated funding opportunities for communities across the Midwest that want to conduct resilience projects, more than 25 new case studies detailing how local governments have executed projects, and additional resources in the library and tools section.