Building Resilient Communities: Federal, State, and Local Officials Convene to Discuss Resilient Housing
IBTS and NGA will host a roundtable event in Washington D.C. to develop recommendations on housing resilience before and after a natural disaster.
WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — The Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS), in partnership with the National Governors Association (NGA), will host a roundtable event in Washington, D.C. focused on best practices to improve housing resilience before and after a natural disaster.
The Experts Roundtable on Resilient Housing Recovery will take place mid-January in the Hall of States and convenes experts from governors’ offices and other state agencies, local government and federal agencies, national associations, and mitigation program implementers and experts. The panel will discuss a range of topics focused on resilience and disaster mitigation. Topics will include how states structure the administration of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds; the use of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mitigation funds; policies to improve resilience of the housing stock; and how states can make disaster recovery planning a routine exercise.
“By bringing together public- and private-sector stakeholders, we hope to identify common gaps and vulnerabilities in states’ housing resilience plans,” said Patrick Howell, Community Resilience Program Manager at IBTS. “This roundtable event will help develop recommendations that all stakeholders can implement before and after a natural disaster.”
IBTS, a nonprofit organization, boasts more than 40 years of research, assessments, and program planning and implementation for disaster mitigation and recovery efforts. The organization bases resilience action on forward-looking, science-based local disaster preparation efforts that address recovery, resilience, and revitalization needs. Together with the NGA, IBTS looks to bring resilience and mitigation topics to the forefront of state and local governments’ planning processes.
The recommendations that are developed during this closed, roundtable event will inform the preparation of a whitepaper, which will be distributed to governors and their policy advisors in the spring of 2019.
For more information on the Experts Roundtable on Resilient Housing Recovery, or if you are interested in participating, please contact Patrick Howell at 
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About NGA:
The National Governors Association (NGA) is the bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors. Through NGA, governors share best practices, speak with a collective voice on national policy and develop innovative solutions that improve state government and support the principles of federalism.
About IBTS:
IBTS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to helping communities through quality services that reduce risk, enhance public safety, and improve quality of life. IBTS is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia with branch offices across the country. IBTS’s work is guided by a Board of Directors made up of government officials appointed by five of the most highly respected, grassroots, state and local governmental associations, including the Council of State Governments (CSG), International City/County Management Association (ICMA), National Association of Counties (NACo), National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), and National League of Cities (NLC).
