Over the past 16 weeks, eight graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Florida conducted an adaptive design studio course led by Dr. Joseli Macedo. The class focused on the Cedar Key-Rosewood area and identified community-based strategies to adapt to sea level rise and other coastal changes. The class followed a seven-step analysis, public input, and design process:

1. Inventory social and geographic data about demographic, economic, infrastructure, and environmental conditions.
2. Visit the study area and perform a visual analysis.
3. Facilitate citizen and community leader input, i.e., public participation.
4. Identify community strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats, i.e., SWOT analysis.
5. Conduct case studies of other places that have implemented adaptive strategies.
6. Analyze the interplay between the form and functions of the built environment and potential sea level rise impacts.
7. Make recommendations for adaptive strategies using community design principles.

The students presented the results of this process to community members at the Cedar Key Arts Festival on April 13-14, and at the Cedar Key Public Library on April 24. The studio class thanks the Arts Festival and Library for the venues, and everyone who came to these events and provided valuable feedback. This feedback will continue to inform the larger project, Planning for Coastal Change in Levy County. More information about the adaptive design studio analyses and recommendations will be posted on this website over the next several weeks.