Trustees Director of Coast Tom O’Shea joins panel discussion on climate resilience and community engagement [VIDEO]
A diverse group of community stakeholders and experts in fields including conservation, architecture, and urban policy participated in a series of panel discussions Friday to discuss how communities can better plan for, and incorporate, resilience measures in preparation for the future.
Trustees Director of Coast and Natural Resources Tom O’Shea joined one of the morning’s panels, alongside representatives from Boston Harbor Now, the Global Resilience Institute, the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, and Northeastern University.
“What we’ve seen has been unprecedented change," said O’Shea, in describing the impacts of climate change to Trustees properties along the coast. Stressing the importance of engaging communities and bringing people together to be a part of interventions and resilience-building projects, O’Shea added, “We have an outsized responsibility as an organization to help champion and bring together our members, our visitors, communities and many others around how we make our coastal communities more resilient. We believe that the choices that we make will actually help to give signals and help to provide examples and involve others in that choice-making around how we respond to a changing coast, and a changing climate.”
Click below to watch the panel discussions:
As the largest private owner of coastal property in the state, The Trustees of Reservations is working to not only protect its properties on the coast but also to build and manage a series of resilient parks along Boston’s vulnerable harbor. As with the rest of the coast, the Boston waterfront is increasingly susceptible to rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storms, threatening homes, businesses and infrastructure. Building new green spaces, such as parks, is one of the proposed strategies in Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Resilient Boston Harbor vision. Together, city leaders and local organizations including The Trustees are working to help protect our waterfront city today and in the future.
To learn more about The Trustees’ coastal strategy and work visit: TheTrustees.org/coast. For more information about the One Waterfront Initiative, visit: onewaterfront.thetrustees.org/about
“Turning Up the Heat: Climate Resilience & Community Engagement” was hosted by Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and its research center, the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, in partnership with the UMass Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab.