The original item was published from June 9, 2025 11:59 AM to June 9, 2025 1:29 PM
Municipalities working with NJCRC can build partnerships across sectors and connect to funding opportunities
Amanda Archer, Managing Director, New Jersey Coast Resilience Collaborative (NJCRC)
Did you know there are about 239 municipalities with tidally influenced waters across 16 counties in New Jersey? The New Jersey Coastal Resilience Collaborative (NJCRC) is a professional network established to foster sustainable and resilient coastal communities and ecosystems by generating informed action. The NJCRC helps make resilience a priority by working directly with communities to raise awareness, identify challenges, and build support for addressing them with beneficial solutions. Over 100 diverse partners make up the NJCRC, including federal, state, and local government, regional planning groups, universities, nongovernmental organizations, consulting companies and other for-profit businesses, national estuary programs and reserves, advocacy groups, and community representatives.
Municipal Visions & Visionaries
NJCRC leadership consists of three co-chairs who act as an executive committee of the board of directors and three managing directors to support the function and coordination of NJCRC activities. The Board of Directors reflects the make-up of General Partners with representatives from diverse sectors to help guide the goals and objectives of the organization.
The NJCRC is open to all interested individuals, municipalities, agencies/organizations, and businesses who commit to working for the common good of New Jersey residents in enhancing coastal resilience and mitigating coastal hazards.
Working Groups
Much of the work happens within NJCRC working groups dedicated to specific topics on coastal resilience. Workgroups are composed of representatives from our partner organizations and other practitioners. Interested parties do not have to be an official partner to participate in workgroups of the NJCRC. Current workgroups and their purpose are:
• Municipal Workgroup aims to identify and help overcome municipal obstacles to achieve resilience in coastal communities by exchanging ideas and information. Also, provides input for NJCRC products and deliverables.
• Coastal Ecological Restoration Workgroup promotes resilience through facilitation and knowledge sharing of science-based information around green infrastructure and nature-based solutions, to inform ecological restoration planning and implementation in coastal communities.
• Technical Assistance Coffee Chat Workgroup leverages the NJCRC network of professionals and connects local stakeholders with practitioners that can offer technical assistance to enhance coastal resilience by planning and implementing regular webinars.
• Field Site Visit Workgroup organizes site visits to coastal locations that support discussions by stakeholders in the field to advance understanding of restoration techniques, site impairments, and other topics critical to coastal resilience.
• Communications Workgroup creates clear and concise communications materials that leverage the NJCRC network of professionals to enhance coastal resilience and outreach to local stakeholders.
• Conference and Event Planning Workgroup organizes and implements resilience conferences and events that bring stakeholders together to share experiences and expertise, sharing information and ideas within the network and with the public.
• Policy Workgroup identifies relevant coastal resilience policy issues and develops policy analyses, recommendations, and comments to support adoption and implementation of policies that advance our common coastal resilience goals. NJCRC workgroups have a strong focus on providing technical assistance to municipalities and practitioners working in coastal communities. One product of the NJCRC is a Directory of Technical Advisors, designed to help coastal stakeholders like public officials and residents find and connect with professionals who can assist with resilience planning and implementation across a range of topics. The NJCRC hosts a Technical Assistance Coffee Chat Series with recorded sessions on various resilience topics, and in-person events such as field trips, technical workshops, and biennial conferences.
In March 2024, the NJCRC held its first conference jointly with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and assembled hundreds of coastal and climate resilience professionals and practitioners to engage with New Jersey experts and leaders on the current state of coastal science and research, foster peer-to-peer learning, and offered networking opportunities to build relationships and cultivate useful collaborations.
Cape May Challenges
Longtime NJCRC leader and former Cape May Mayor, Dr. Edward J. Mahaney, talks about the challenges he faced when working in a small coastal town and how he quickly realized coastal communities throughout NJ would benefit from the technical assistance provided by a unified and motivated consortium.
“As with most small coastal towns throughout New Jersey, Cape May City does not have the staffing, consulting, and financial resources internally to address and resolve resilience issues, especially major coastal storms including hurricanes, tropical storms, nor’easters, flooding, and increasing and more intensive rainfall. When faced with a natural disaster, Cape May and other coastal communities depend on county, state, and federal resources and assistance to recover and restore essential town functions and activities as quickly as possible. However, there always has been a gap in providing small coastal towns with the necessary technical assistance to plan, identify financial resources, and implement strategic plans to mitigate the negative effects of future natural disasters. Over the last nine years, the NJCRC has progressively built a collaborative partnership with local municipalities to fill this gap. The mission of the NJCRC has always been focused on the resilience needs of coastal communities”
NJCRC partners have greatly benefited from this community of practice in its capacity and partnership building to compete for large funding opportunities and receive awards.
Township of Brick & Learning Networks
Through NJCRC learning networks, the Township of Brick learned about the beneficial use of dredge material for ecological restoration projects to enhance shoreline stabilization and salt marshes in their community. Participation with the NJCRC not only acquainted township employees with funding opportunities to pursue such projects but enabled them to find potential project partners.
In 2022, Brick Township collaborated with US Fish & Wildlife to secure a $5 million dollar Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) grant to use dredge material from the Trader’s Cove Municipal Marina for tidal salt marsh restoration at the nearby Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.
Long Beach Township Relationship
Sustainability Director of Long Beach Township, Angela Anderson, stated, “the relationships built within the NJCRC network, from workgroups to municipal partners, have informed and enhanced the township’s ability to further resilience efforts by refining the ecological and regulatory components of our projects. The peer-to-peer relationships have been invaluable to us.”
Stafford Township Stays Informed
Stafford Township joined the NJCRC to stay informed. Township Administrator Matt von der Hayden explained, “the NJCRC helps promote working together across municipalities, counties, and the State. This connection helps generate ideas for planning projects and working together on grant opportunities. Involvement is key in the NJCRC, to stay informed and to identify future opportunities for the State.”
The Next Five Years
NJDEP was recently awarded $72.5 million dollars to implement a largescale, transformational resilience initiative across 16 coastal counties, representing 432 municipalities, over the next five years. Grant reviewers expressed the maturity and success of the NJCRC and many of its partners was a key reason the proposal was selected. With our growth and increased presence in the state, the NJCRC is excited to engage more with the League!
For more information on NJCRC, visit www.njcoastalresilience.org.