Corpus Christi, TX – September 19, 2025.
Over 50 community leaders, experts, students, and stakeholders gathered at the Hilliard Center for the 2025 Smart Coast Summit: Coastal Bend Vision 2050, hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington’s Smart Coast Initiative. The daylong summit focused on addressing urgent challenges and laying out a path toward a more resilient and sustainable Coastal Bend.
Examining the Status Quo
The morning sessions, titled Tackle the Status Quo, opened with a focus on the region’s assets and vulnerabilities. Dr. Oswald Jenewein led the Infrastructure and Environment panel with Bob Paulison, Coastal Bend Industry Association, Mary Afuso, Coastal Bend Council of Governments, Lauren Hutch Williams, The Nature Conservancy, and Stephanie Rogers, Stantec. The discussion centered on balancing industrial growth, economic development, and ecological preservation.
The Hazards and Emergency Management session, hosted by Katherine Steele, brought together Dee Hawkins, Nueces County, Randy Wright, City Manager Portland, Jace Johnson, City of Corpus Christi, and Mike Griffin, Texas State Aquarium. They addressed hurricane preparedness, flooding risks, and strategies to strengthen local emergency response.
The Data and Technology panel, led by Dr. Michelle Hummel, featured Sharon Bailey Murphy, Coastal Bend Air Quality Partnership, Jeff Pollack, Port of Corpus Christi, Payton Campbell, Coastal Watch Association, and Hua Zhang, Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Panelists highlighted how sensor networks, monitoring systems, digital tools, and educational partnerships can help communities adapt to environmental pressures.
Keynote Inspires Vision for 2050
One of the highlights of the summit was the keynote address by Jasper Hugtenburg, a Dutch landscape architect and geomorphologist with H+N+S Landscape Architects. Internationally recognized for his work on resilient coastal deltas, Hugtenburg encouraged participants to see the coastline not as a fixed boundary but as “a dynamic gradient between land and sea” offering new possibilities for human settlement and ecological adaptation.
Building Toward a Smart Coast
Afternoon workshops built on Hugtenburg’s message, inviting participants to translate ideas into concrete strategies. Discussions focused on smart infrastructure, resilient environmental systems, and policy innovation, with efforts aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The summit closed with a shared vision of the Coastal Bend as a Smart Coast, where human experience, natural systems, and technology come together to ensure the long-term resilience of communities and resources.
The Role of the Smart Coast Initiative
Throughout the summit, the mission of the Smart Coast Initiative was clear, to bridge academia and community needs through place-based and engaged approaches. Supported by $2.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, the initiative builds its work on the project Enabling Smart Cities in Coastal Regions. Founding faculty members Michelle Hummel and Oswald Jenewein emphasized that research and teaching cannot remain confined to the classroom. By working directly with local communities, industries, and city officials, the initiative aims to co-create adaptive solutions that respond to real conditions along the Texas coast while preparing future generations of students to shape resilient urban environments.
