IEN Services

IEN's team conducts community-based research, in addition to law and policy research led by Elizabeth Andrews. 

Our research takes many forms, including:

  • Situation assessments (identifying issues, challenges, opportunities)
  • Stakeholder surveys and analysis
  • Qualitative interviews
  • Focus groups
  • Stakeholder engagement (numerous forms)
  • Community workshops
  • Symposia
  • Collaborative summits
  • Technical advisory groups
  • Collaboratively developed research protocols
  • Issue briefs

Research Spotlight at IEN

Moving the Needle Towards Resilient Communities

Moving the Needing Towards Resilient Communities: A Field Guide for Equitable, Community-Led Resilience Planning reflects lessons learned from 10 years of community initiative to advance resilience across communities in Virginia and offers guidance to initiate and engage in resilience planning with their communities. Written by RAFT team members Wie Yusuf, and IEN's Tanya Denckla Cobb, Sierra Gladfelter, and Elizabeth Andrews, it was published by Routledge in 2026. 

Enabling Coastal Resilience in Mean Low Water States: Addressing Challenges to the Use of Public Funds in the Privately-Owned Intertidal Zone

Virginia's status as a "Mean Low Water" state can pose a challenge when attempting to use public funds for resilience projects that encroach upon that space or that benefit private property owners. This paper by Elizabeth Andrews, IEN's Distinguished Law & Policy Fellow, highlights examples of successful resilience projects that have encroached upon the intertidal zone in Virginia, provides case studies of resilience projects conducted in the other MLW states, and offers recommended methods to address challenges in using public funds for shoreline resilience projects in MLW states. 

Proactive Planning for Resilience: Protocols for Community-Led Climate Adaptation in Virginia

Authored by Elizabeth Andrews, this Climate Adaptation Guide is a resource for communities in fostering planning at the local level with full community engagement, using various tools and approaches to identify vulnerable areas and minimize community risk, and enabling economic drivers and robust planning to support community relocation when necessary. 

Facilitating Climate Adaptation: The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) Framework

This paper shares The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) framework and offers an alternate model for advancing resilience and climate adaptation planning that leverages social learning to build consensus around shared values and community priorities. Originally published in Local Development and Society, it was written by Professor Bev Wilson, and IEN's Tanya Denckla Cobb, Elizabeth Andrews, and Sierra Gladfelter.