Adoption and Maintenance

Publication, Adoption and Maintenance

The Plan and associated documents and databases will be published online to maximize publicity and ownership by different stakeholders. The Plan’s adoption and maintenance processes will be formally documented in the hazard mitigation plans. UVI envisions that this process will be intricately linked into the building of key capacities in the Territory for hazard mitigation, and therefore, proposes to develop and coordinate a series of technical training workshops with VITEMA to help VITEMA and other stakeholders develop the understanding and skills needed for hazard mitigation planning.

Knowledge Platform

The HMRP Knowledge Platform will be developed for sharing information with citizens and stakeholders. The HMRP Knowledge Platform will be developed around three pillars: access, learning, and communication. Regarding access, the HMRP platform will provide stakeholders with information on the hazard mitigation plan and specific plan elements such as hazard profiles and risk information. This will include links to important 3rd party websites including FEMA and other national and international sources of information. Regarding learning, the platform will provide presentations, documents, guides, manuals and multimedia resources that will help stakeholders determine the applicability and feasibility of implementing hazard mitigation, resiliency and sustainability approaches. Finally, in regard to communications, the HMRP platform will serve to raise awareness of hazard mitigation, resiliency and sustainability planning in the Territory. UVI will work with UVI staff and software developers to deploy and develop this platform.

Building Commitment to Mitigation through Data Management

UVI realizes that one of the key factors limiting the ability of the Territory to demonstrate its commitment to hazard mitigation is limited or poor data. This has stymied the Territory's ability to identify projects, participate in programs and demonstrate how such activities will reduce risk. As part of this plan, UVI will develop and implement a data management plan to specifically help Territorial agencies manage data that can be used to inform or improve hazard and sustainability models. UVI database will act as a repository for data that will be used during this and future planning efforts, and provide for the secure storage of tabular, alphanumeric, spatial and multi-media data. This data management facility will be implemented to reflect a gradual increase in data volume and capabilities for its use and is anticipated to become a key resource for the Territory government and researchers.

Plan Adoption

UVI will draft and submit the planning documents to VITEMA and the Office of the Governor. UVI will work with VITEMA and the Office of the Governor to ensure that the plan is formally adopted by the Territory. Adoption is required for the OMA-compliant Hazard Mitigation Plan. This adoption process entails submitting the draft plan to the Governor for review, approval and adoption, in accordance with §201.4(c)(6) and§ 201.4(c)(7).

Plan Maintenance

The HMRP process will clearly establish and outline a schedule for Plan monitoring, evaluation and update in accordance with §201.4(c)(5)(i). UVI will develop a process in which the Steering Committee and Sector-Based Work Groups will be engaged by UVI and VITEMA in future plan monitoring, maintenance and updates. UVI envisions that VITEMA and the HMRP Steering Committee will be responsible for the implementation and update of the Plan once it is approved and adopted. This will involve the review of mapping and hazard information, changes in hazard profiles, climate change variability, changes in built environment such as new developments, laws, policies and regulations, etc. UVI envisions that core capacities for Plan maintenance will be further developed over the course of this planning effort (See activities outlined in the Capacity Development Program section of this proposal).

Integration with other Planning Efforts

UVI will continue its direct engagement with key stakeholders including its Steering Committee and its sector-based working groups to define opportunities for incorporating hazard mitigation and sustainability into planning and development activities in the Territory. UVI will utilize its comprehensive development planning framework to promote risk reduction, sustainability and resiliency planning in the Territory. In this regard, UVI recognizes that communication efforts are essential for building an enabling environment for sustainability. In order to build a culture of an "enabling environment" within and across the political, economic, social, legal and regulatory systems within the Territory, UVI will pursue and facilitate community discussions, workshops and outreach activities. These outreach efforts will focus on mainstreaming key hazard mitigation, sustainability and resiliency planning concepts in the Territory. UVl's focus here will be to inform decision-makers and the wider community of ways to incorporate such themes and actions into long­term community development planning processes.

Plan Development Workshops and Training Sessions

In these series of educational workshops, UVl's team will work with VITEMA and demonstrate how all the elements of the Plan were developed and should be documented to meet the requirements of OMA 2000. These working sessions outline the framework needed to development two separate and distinct hazard mitigation plans, the update of the Territory's Hazard Mitigation Plan, and a separate Flood Hazard Mitigation Plan. While UVI will have the overall responsibility for Plan development, the University hopes that these interactive planning efforts (that focus on learning-­by-doing) will help build core understanding and capacities for the future development of hazard mitigation plans by the relevant Territorial agencies across the Territory.

Program and Project Implementation Capacity and Accountability

UVI recognizes that it may not be able to change organizational structures during this planning effort; nonetheless, it will still seek to create visibility and support for enhancing hazard mitigation and sustainability efforts among the agencies. UVl's intent is to improve organizations/structures and identify opportunities for training and workforce development. This can be accomplished by providing direct training and/or support to agencies as they develop and implement various hazard mitigation, sustainability, and resiliency projects.

UVI will continue working with VITEMA, FEMA and other partners to develop content for hazard mitigation, sustainability and resiliency planning that will seek to build core capacities for program and project management, including:

• Developing leadership/policy language and skills related to incorporating hazard mitigation, sustainability and resiliency in policy and regulatory frameworks,
• Creating sectoral planning frameworks that seek to demonstrate how to integrate hazard mitigation, sustainability and resiliency into other practice areas (energy, environment, tourism, etc.),
• Creating and managing data, specifically disaster management information that is pertinent for the validation of agency projects,
• Managing financial resources, accountability and reporting, and
• Improving grant writing skills to enhance likelihood for external funding for hazard mitigation, sustainability and resiliency.

These efforts will be focused on improving administrative, management and/or human resources in the Territory.