20 Years Later: Spatial, Economic, and Civic Lessons Learned Since Katrina - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)

Recorded On: 10/10/2025

In the 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, the City of New Orleans has embraced a paradigm shift in how to view water as an asset, make better public spaces, and support economic and civic reinvestment. This dialogue examines the designer’s role in this conversation in conjunction with larger public participation.

Learning objectives:

Learn the history of the paradigm shift in adaptation planning following Hurricane Katrina and the first water plan in the United States.
Discuss policy, municipal government responses, and lessons learned concerning disaster recovery, urban adaptation planning, and landscape design.
Examine mechanisms to improve adaptation planning through the lens of design, economic development, real estate, and community priorities.
Discuss the voice of landscape architects in initiating paradigm-shifting policy and forward-looking adaptation planning.

Jeff Hébert

CEO

HR&A Advisors

Jeff has spent his career developing strategies that adapt and respond to changing economies and environments. Over the past twenty years, he has advised corporations, governments, non-profits, and philanthropies on issues of public policy, economic development, and climate resilience. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University, a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the Achieving Excellence program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

David Waggonner, FAIA

Founding Principal

Waggonner & Ball

David Waggonner is the founding principal of Waggonner & Ball, an internationally active architecture and environment practice based in New Orleans. David is recognized as a national leader in resilient, water-based planning and design, co-developing Dutch Dialogues® and creating the Living with Water® process. He works across scales and disciplines to help cities and regions achieve added value from investments in natural systems and built networks. To advance the ability to design and deliver holistic, beautiful solutions to the critical climate challenges of our time, Waggonner & Ball merged with Moffatt & Nichol, a truly global infrastructure advisory firm.

Michael Hecht

President & CEO

Greater New Orleans, Inc

Michael Hecht is President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development organization for Southeast Louisiana. Under his leadership, GNO, Inc. has attracted 120+ companies, generating $40B in investment and 20,000 jobs, and has been named a top economic development group in America. Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Michael was appointed by Governor Jeff Landry to oversee local infrastructure improvements and business attraction activities and was later appointed to oversee successful implementation of the $2 billion Louisiana International Terminal in St. Bernard Parish. He previously led Louisiana’s Katrina Small Business Recovery Program and New York City’s post-9/11 small business efforts. A former entrepreneur and consultant, Michael holds degrees from Stanford and Yale. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, Marlene, and sons, Dexter and Kaj.