Regional Recreation Economy Summit

On behalf of EPA Region 4 and the FEMA Interagency Recovery Coordination Team, thank you for joining us during the Florida Panhandle Regional Recreation Economy Summit October 6-8, 2020! The purpose of the summit was to identify a vision and set of strategies to build the regional recreation economy by leveraging the  significant natural assets and potential connectivity in the Florida Panhandle . We had over 135 participants throughout the three days, culminating with over fifty local, regional, state and federal partners joining the final action planning discussion on Thursday. As one participant shared, 

“Wonderful summit – good ideas – great synergy – and I can see a path forward that could benefit the local recreational-related economy throughout the entire Northwest Florida region.”

In the coming months, we will be refining the action plan and developing a final report to help guide the strategies you collectively identified to grow the regional recreation economy for the Florida Panhandle. We look forward to continuing to work with you all over the coming year to begin transforming the vision to a reality.  

The Summit builds on six Recovery and Resiliency Partnership Project (R2P2) efforts with the cities of Mexico Beach, Marianna, Parker, Springfield, Quincy, and Chattahoochee. The R2P2 support developed concept plans for each city to support downtown revitalization and connections to parks and trails. The concept plans outline strategies for stormwater resiliency and greenspace connections that support the local economy and long-term recovery of the region.   

The virtual Summit focused on leveraging these city scale efforts to strengthen the regional recreation economy for the Panhandle of Florida with the following themes. 

  • Economics of a Regional Recreational Economy  
  • Ecosystem and Watershed Resiliency 
  • Historical and Cultural Resources 

For more information, click the links in the sidebar to access the agendas, participant list, presentations and recordings from the summit.

Final Report

Summit Final Report  

Resource Guide

Agenda

At a Glance Agenda

Detailed Agenda

Resources  

Participant List

Virtual Whiteboard with notes from Summit 

Panelist Presentations

  • October 6, Economics of a Regional Recreation Economy
  • October 7, Ecosystem and Watershed Resiliency
  • October 7, Historical and Cultural Resources

Recordings 

  • See the summit Vimeo showcase with recordings from all three sessions.

Learn about local efforts

Explore the design concepts developed for each city that can support the growing regional recreation economy.

Visit each city’s page to view the report.

For more information, contact: 

Rick Durbrow, Program Analyst 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4
durbrow.rick@epa.gov
Office: 404-562-8286