Pennsylvania Sea Grant, the Community Resilience Action Network of Erie (CRANE) and other local partners worked together to create neighborhoods and communities that are resilient to climate challenges such as flooding, high winds, and blizzards.

Through a series of listening and planning sessions, the project team engaged with the community to discuss local challenges, barriers, and potential solutions for Erie’s neighborhoods.

The “One Block” concept is part of a broader partnership to increase community resilience across the Great Lakes. Three Sea Grant programs (Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Minnesota Sea Grant, and Pennsylvania Sea Grant) will form a multi-community work team to address climate hazards in Michigan City and Hammond, Indiana; Duluth, Minnesota; and Erie, Pennsylvania, respectively.

All three Sea Grant programs worked together to compile a community assessment and engagement toolkit, ideal for replication in communities nationwide. Access the toolkit here.

A 2-page summary of the project can be accessed here.

The project was broken out into three phases:

Background Assessement

This phase included compiling a document of all relevant information about Erie's underserved and vulnerable communities. It is a compilation of documents, geographic and demographic data, reports, city plans and previous related project findings. The background assessment phase also included work with Penn State landscape students to create hazard visualizations of flooding and other hazards.

Click here for Erie's background assessment

Community Visioning

The second phase included a community listening session with community and neighborhood groups to allow for co-learning about community needs and barriers, selection of possible One Block implementation sites, and collaborative visioning of a resilient neighborhood.

Click here for a summary of the listening session

Toolkit Development

Sea Grant partners from Pennsylvania Sea Grant, Minnesota Sea Grant, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant collaboratively developed a community assessment and engagement process toolkit based on their work within each community. The “One Block at a Time” toolkit includes process agendas, education and visualization resources, findings, outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations for replication.

Click here to access the toolkit

PA Sea Grant Listening Session Summary_Final.pdf

Project Goals:

Foster trusted relationships between Pennsylvania Sea Grant, CRANE, and marginalized neighborhoods in Erie, Pennsylvania.

● Understand the needs, concerns, and barriers that marginalized communities face surrounding severe and hazardous weather.

● Plan and implement a pilot project at a “One Block” scale that addresses water quality and quantity issues

● Develop best practices for engaging with vulnerable communities that can be replicated in other Great Lakes cities

Regional Partnership

The “One Block” concept is part of a broader partnership to increase community resilience across the Great Lakes. Three Sea Grant programs (Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Minnesota Sea Grant, and Pennsylvania Sea Grant) will form a multi-community work team to address climate hazards in Michigan City and Hammond, Indiana; Duluth, Minnesota; and Erie, Pennsylvania, respectively.