In January 2021, Cohort 004 began working with the Northeast Florida Regional Council to compile and document the existing coastal resilience strategies and projects occurring or implemented throughout Northeast Florida. The goal of this project was to provide the Northeast Florida Regional Council with a comprehensive understanding of the existing work being done on coastal resilience and identify additional coastal resilience needs and opportunities to prepare Northeast Florida for increased flooding and intense weather events.

Normal Next associates worked in a team of five to research the coastal resilience policies, research projects, vulnerability assessments, and infrastructural solutions throughout the seven counties represented by the Northeast Florida Regional Council: Nassau, Baker, Clay, Putnam, St. John’s, Flagler, and Duval–where Jacksonville, the second-largest city in the United States, is located. The associates conducted gap analyses following data collection to compare progress and identify new opportunities for coastal resilience in Northeast Florida. To make this information most usable for the Northeast Florida Regional Council, the associates turned the data into digestible pieces of public information for the Northeast Florida Regional Council to use in communications, education, and advocacy efforts. In April 2021, seven fact sheets - one for each county - were presented to the Northeast Florida Regional Council describing the unique nature of each county and its existing coastal resilience landscape, which can be used individually or all together as a seven-part document overviewing the current state of Northeast Florida’s coastal resilience practices.