VIMS

Tools and Learning Resources

Links to trainings, tools, webinars and materials relevant to coastal decision makers

Trainings
  • Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Program - Provides a system of materials and consistent instruction across the Bay region, creating a community of certified professionals to be better stormwater partners and environmental stewards. Offerings include a certification program, and workshops on riparian buffers; calendar here.
  • Living Shorelines Academy
    Learn about living shorelines – what they are, how they are designed and built, and how they serve our coastal habitats and communities. Whether you are a property owner looking for alternatives to mitigate erosion on your shoreline property, or a contractor or a policy maker looking to gain more in depth knowledge about the design and permitting of living shorelines, on this site you can find a course, project databases, literature and additional resources to help you achieve those goals.
  • Marine Planning and Management Training Opportunities
    Short courses, tools trainings, graduate/postgraduate degree programs, other resources
  • NOAA's Digital Coast Academy
    Offering a wide range of learning resources
  • Seventh Sovereign - Supporting Tribal and non-Tribal entities in developing partnerships and avoiding conflict throughout the United States.  Training calendar here.
  • Whole-Community Coastal Climate Resilience Planning
    Planners, local officials and community leaders can take this online training to learn about a new framework for holistic, community-based resilience planning to more equitably and meaningfully engage historically underrepresented and vulnerable communities in resilience planning. 
Tools
Webinars
  • 2022 Communicating Science Seminar ( archived)
    Sessions include: "Cultural Humility and Cultural Competence in Public Engagement with Science" and "Building Connections and Reciprocity Between Scientists and Communities."
  • Building a National Movement to Prevent Trauma and Foster Resilience Workshop Series (archived)
    Providing stakeholders, advocates and practitioners with the tools necessary to encourage and assist systems in every community in integrating trauma-informed, resilience-focused, and healing-centered approaches and principles into their daily operations, thereby making America trauma-informed.
  • Chesapeake Research Consortium Roundtable (ongoing and archived)
    A monthly virtual seminar series, to host targeted, inclusive, and informed conversations matching scientific advances and management needs in a way that moves us collectively forward toward decision-making for effective and sustainable management of the Chesapeake Bay, its watershed, and its living resources.
  • Climate Central Workshops and Webinars (ongoing and archived)
    Offerings for communicating the facts about our changing climate and its impact on the public.
  • Green Infrastructure Webcast Series (ongoing and archived)
    Initiated in 2014, EPA's green infrastructure webcast series features leading academics and professionals from around the country sharing expertise on a range of topics related to green infrastructure.
  • Integrating Water Quality and Natural Hazard Mitigation Planning (archived)
    In this webcast, experts discuss how to align program goals and activities to create a cooperative, coordinated water protection and hazard mitigation approach.
  • Open Channels Webinar Archives (archived)
    A variety of webinars focused on sustainable management and conservation
  • Restoration Webinar Series (ongoing)
    Hosted by NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this webinar series communicates new approaches, best management practices and innovative restoration techniques to some of our nation’s greatest restoration challenges. The series covers a broad spectrum of topics including: planning and implementing restoration projects; project monitoring and evaluation at multiple time scales; accounting for a changing climate in restoration; regional restoration planning and priority setting; and permitting. Archived webinars found here
  • Water Research Webinar Series (ongoing)
    EPA's Office of Research and Development hosts this webinar series to share current research activities and results. Through innovative science and engineering, EPA’s researchers are developing cost-effective, sustainable solutions to 21st century complex water issues. The scientific results and innovative technologies developed support EPA’s mandate to protect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our Nation’s water resources, and to ensure safe drinking water and water systems.
Portals and Clearinghouses
Misc.
  • COVID on the Coast: Capturing the Story of What Happened, How We're Coping and What's Next - A 3-part series highlighting the challenges, solutions and silver linings surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in coastal Virginia.  Click on the links below for more.  
"COVID on the Coast" Trailer
  • View the COVID on the Coast trailer here
  • Panel 1: Government officials, including representatives from federal, state, regional and local agencies
  • Panel 2: Educators, including formal and informal practitioners
  • Panel 3: Research scientists and managers, including academic and regulatory representatives  
  • Resource Bank: Additional resources to supplement recorded conversations and inspire solutions