PUNTA GORDA — The way this city tapped input from residents to decide which shorelines to “harden” with elevated seawalls or leave natural, with salt marshes and mangroves, to adapt to rising sea levels is “a model for the nation,” Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council planner Jim Beever told the Punta Gorda City Council Wednesday.

The Nature Conservancy has incorporated some of the city’s methods in a national campaign called Coastal Resilience. The campaign provides tools to help cities plan for climate change.