Training Communities to Make Room for Rivers

Flood Resilience Workers in Jeffersonville, VT

Several years ago, we helped Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources plan and develop Flood Ready Vermont, a website with extensive information about protecting your community from flood damage. In 2017, they asked us to create a training series for volunteers who are helping their communities become more flood resilient.

The first thing we did was purchase a drone camera. To really understand how a river moves over time, it was clear to us that our audience needed to see it from the sky. We then dove into the content, learning the difference between floodplains and River Corridors, asking state employees what people often struggle to grasp, and learning from Vermonters who are already making significant progress. From our research, we developed three modules focusing on basic concepts, success stories to replicate, and strategies for common issues that can get tricky.

This project involved every member of our team as we wrote and proofread content, conducted extensive interviews, produced videos, composed music, and assembled info-graphics. Our partners at the State answered questions, presented priorities, and built a shared vision with us, and we fully produced the training series.

You can see it at Making Room For Rivers.