We provide support to help communities adapt and thrive. Whether it’s protecting farmland, improving mobility, or addressing displacement, we work alongside you to center community needs and long-term sustainability.
Resilience isn’t a single initiative; it’s a way of thinking that has to run through everything a community does. We help partners understand their climate and social vulnerabilities, identify where those pressures intersect, and develop plans and strategies that hold up over the long term.
We’ve worked with cities, counties, and regional partners across South Carolina on everything from sustainability planning to farmland preservation to climate adaptation workshops. Our work is grounded in national best practices and science. Shi is a registered Climate Adaptation Practitioner through Climate Smart Communities. When a project calls for specialized knowledge, we partner with Furman faculty to draw on their expertise across a wide range of disciplines.
Projects
Examples of Resilience and Sustainability:
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Putting a Data Dashboard to Work for Greenville’s Transit System
Greenville County’s transit system provides 750,000 rides a year—workers, students, and residents who depend on it to reach jobs, healthcare, and opportunity. A custom dashboard built by the Shi Institute is giving advocates the data and tools they need to make the case for a stronger, more connected county.
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Extreme Heat Is a Health Crisis. The Hard Part Is Knowing Exactly Where
South Carolina already endures about 15 days a year above 95°F—and that number is expected to grow dramatically. Extreme heat kills, worsens chronic illness, and strains communities in ways that vary dramatically from block to block. The Shi Institute is helping municipalities see exactly where the threat is greatest, and act on it.
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What Will the Upstate Look Like in 2100? We Have a Choice.
The natural spaces that define our region could vanish within decades – or they could thrive for generations. Our modeling reveals how smart decisions today can preserve the Upstate for future generations.
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A Trusted Guide for Climate Resilience Action in SC Communities
South Carolina is home to 10 federally designated Community Disaster Resilience Zones — communities where climate risk and social vulnerability are high, but resources to act are often limited. Finding the right funding, technical expertise, and partners can feel like navigating a maze. That is the problem the Southeast Navigator Network program was built to…
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The Business Demand Is There. Why Isn’t SC Capitalizing on Renewable Energy?
South Carolina companies, large and small, want to buy renewable energy. Many have hard commitments to do so. Research from Dr. Matthew Cohen and the Shi Institute finds that state policy is the main thing standing in the way and that the investment dollars may end up elsewhere if SC isn’t more proactive.
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Preserving the Farms That Define Our Communities
South Carolina stands to lose 586,000 acres of farmland by 2036. That’s 67 acres disappearing every single day. Shi’s mapping tools can help change this trajectory.