Commentary by Bob Moore, Chair of SanCap Resilience
The word “resilience” is tossed around a lot these days, and for good reason. Florida is on the front lines of impacts from warming temperatures, stronger storms, sea level rise, storm surge, floods, draughts, wildfires, and more. For those of us living on a barrier island, those concerns are particularly pressing.
But what exactly do we mean by resilience? It is an important question as we seek to prepare for the future to protect the people, places, and things that we love. It is also a question that will be asked by the city in its upcoming Sanibel Plan Update community workshops on June 3, 2026 at 2:00 pm and 5:30 pm at the Sanibel Community House. In preparation, community members should give careful consideration to what they think the word, “resilience,” means as it relates to how they want the city to make plans for the future of our sanctuary island.
I think for most, the word resilience conjures up the notion of being able to withstand shocks and recover quickly from them. The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as, “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” At a recent presentation on the “State of Resilience on Sanibel” co-hosted by the Committee of the Islands (COTI) and SanCap Resilience, the city of Sanibel Chief Resilience Officer, Ashlee Painter, defined it this way: “the capacity of individuals, communities, and systems to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of stress and shocks and even transform when conditions require it.” In her talk, she highlighted the importance of not just building back to the way things were but embracing a forward looking view that seeks to become even better as we respond to storms and other events.
As one of the founders and current Chair of SanCap Resilience, a coalition of concerned citizens and local nonprofit organizations formed after Hurricane Ian, I appreciate that forward looking view. The impacts of our changing climate are not static. They are getting worse, and we need to be thoughtful about how we face the future.
One of the first things the steering committee of SanCap Resilience did upon its formation was to think deeply about what it believes the word, “resilience,” means so it could use that definition to guide the work that the group focuses on to support the community. After reviewing definitions from groups focused on climate policy and climate science, the steering committee concluded that it is important to take a comprehensive view of resilience. The way we define it needs to address near-term adaptive measures needed to protect our homes, businesses, infrastructure, community resources, natural spaces, wildlife, and more. But it also needs to look toward the future to identify how actions taken now can mitigate future risks to life and property.
One very obvious example that underscores the importance of this point is the issue of sea level rise. N.O.A.A. predictions of sea level rise show the likelihood of 1 to 2 feet of sea level rise in the next 30 years and the possibility of up to 10 feet of sea level rise over the next 100 years. Whether the more extreme prediction comes to pass is dependent on whether we continue to increase the concentrations of heat trapping pollution in the atmosphere or make changes to reduce that pollution. For a state like Florida, even 2 feet will have dramatic economic impacts. Substantially more than that could literally drown the state. Looking at this example, it becomes obvious very quickly that adaptation alone is not sufficient to prepare for the future. We also have to change the ways we power our homes and economy to mitigate the worst of the future impacts.
These are not just future hypothetical concerns. Already today we are seeing sharp increases in insurance costs, negative impacts on property values, salt water intrusion in our drinking water aquifers, exacerbated issues with water quality and algal blooms, stresses on wildlife and ecosystems. The list goes on.
Given these realities, the SanCap resilience steering committee has chosen to define resilience as a dynamic interaction of both adaptation and mitigation strategies. The word, “resilience,” in the context of climate change, means taking actions to prepare for and adjust to the current and projected impacts of climate change (adaptation) AND taking actions to reduce or prevent emissions of heat trapping pollution from human activities (mitigation). Interestingly, these are overlapping circles where some actions achieve both aims (see illustration).
I hope the community will turn out in large numbers for the upcoming Sanibel Plan Update community workshops on June 3rd to help the city formulate its plans for future resilience and other community priorities. And if the comprehensive definition of the word, “resilience,” described here makes sense to you, I encourage you to make your voice heard on that topic when you attend. If you cannot attend, you can share your perspectives with the city planners at sanplanupdate@mysanibel.com.
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