Workshops and Site Visits Set East Central Florida Military Resilience Study into Motion
June 20, 2024
Image: NSA Orlando Data Collection workshop. (KYLE GRAY/Throwe Environmental)
By JUSTIN GIFFEE and KYLE GRAY/Throwe Environmental
ORLANDO, F.L. — In late April, Throwe Environmental (TE) team members traveled to East Central Florida to participate in workshops and site visits as part of East Central Florida Regional Planning Council’s (ECFRPC) ongoing Military Installation Resilience Review (MIRR).
The MIRR — offered through and funded by the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) Installation Resilience program — officially kicked off in March 2024. Led by Jacobs, the study will advance mission assurance and community resilience across the region.
TE participated in three workshops spanning a week. Each centered around resilience concerns of various local communities and their anchor installations, ultimately informing the data collection and resilience assessment phases. Day one focused on Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Operations Facility Titusville Detachment (NSWC Carderock) and Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) at Port Canaveral. Day two, on Naval Support Activity Orlando (NSA Orlando). And day three, on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CC SFS) and Patrick Space Force Base (Patrick SFB).
April’s slate of workshops engaged stakeholders from across the region. Military participation included CC SFS, Patrick SFB, NSA Orlando, US Coast Guard Command Port Canaveral, NSWC Carderock, and NOTU. Civilians joined from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, multiple Florida state agencies, several county and municipal governments, utilities, Space Florida, and Port Canaveral.
Stakeholders shared insights into national and regional mission interdependencies and the distinctive roles of each installation. Following introductory discussions, TE facilitated sessions exploring current and anticipated environmental and social challenges both installations and their surrounding communities might experience.
Discussions on current and projected shocks and stressors revealed commonalities, while specific geographies of each installation foretold unique challenges. Rapid growth, rising costs of living, housing affordability and accessibility, transportation connectivity, land use, severe storm events, and flooding were identified as notable shocks and stressors. Whereas the installations of East Central Florida play crucial roles in the nation’s space, simulation, and modeling missions and provide significant economic and social benefits to surrounding communities, addressing these resilience challenges is imperative for mission assurance and the livelihoods of community members.
In addition to several days of workshops, TE attended site visits to various locations in the Orlando, Titusville, and Cape Canaveral areas identified by stakeholders throughout the week’s workshops. Visits included Central Florida Research Park, NSWC Carderock, Brevard County and City of Titusville parks, Canaveral National Seashore, Kennedy Space Center, and Port Canaveral.
Following a week of structured discussions with military and civilian stakeholders from various sectors regarding the environmental, economic, and social impacts facing East Central Florida’s installations, the Project Team (composed of experts from ECFRPC, Jacobs, Pharos Mission Critical, Aptim, and TE) will continue to gather data, engage stakeholders, and initiate the resilience assessment.
| Established in 1962, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC) provides project, policy, and planning assistance to governments and organizations within the eight counties (Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia) and 78 member towns and cities in the East Central Florida region. |  |
| With approximately $16 billion in revenue and a talent force of more than 60,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector. |  |
| Throwe Environmental (TE) assists federal, state, and local governments; institutions of higher learning; businesses; and nonprofit organizations in finding innovative and effective solutions to a broad array of environmental challenges. TE is committed to developing climate resilience, environmental finance, and policy and governance solutions for its public, private, and nonprofit clients. TE is based in Bristol, RI and helps communities nationwide address their climate challenges. |  |
For more information, please contact Kyle Gray (Chief of Staff) at kyle@throwe-environmental.com.