Trustees' One Waterfront Initiative brings strong coastal resilience knowledge base to Boston's vulnerable harbor, Managing Director Nick Black explains during Harbor Use Public Forum [VIDEO]

A waterfront forum hosted by Boston Harbor Now on Wednesday morning featured Nick Black, managing director of the One Waterfront Initiative. Black’s presentation outlined The Trustees’ vision for a greener, more equitable waterfront with increased resilience to storms and rising sea levels. 

“We were actually founded here in Boston by Charlies Eliot, a protégé of Frederick Law Olmstead who saw the need to create places for people to get away from it all,” Black said to the gathered group of residents, local stakeholders, and partners. “At the time Boston was a very industrialized, dirty city and he saw the need to preserve places for the public to recreate and enjoy life. Today we own, protect or steward over 120 miles of Massachusetts coastline. In addition to our work in Boston we are involved and engaged in a broader coastal strategy where we’ve looked at our own properties to examine what our vulnerabilities are to sea level rise and coastal flooding and determine where we need to be taking action, to help protect them for the years to come. We’re bringing a lot of that knowledge base to this project here in Boston, working with both the City, Massport and other state agencies to see what it is we can do to help to protect the City, but also create some spectacular places.” 

Black also detailed the project’s goals of world-class design, equity, resilience, and financial feasibility as well as the plans for community outreach, partnerships with Massport and the City of Boston, and feasibility studies that have helped to shape progress around potential park sites in East Boston, South Boston, and the North End.  

Watch the full presentation below:

Boston Harbor Now’s monthly Harbor Use Public Forums series educates and informs interested residents, stakeholders, and developers about projects happening in and around Boston Harbor. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions and have an open dialogue with featured speakers. The Trustees and Boston Harbor Now are part of the Boston Waterfront Partners group working together to ensure that everyone has access to their waterfront—to live, work, and visit—and that it helps protect us in the face of a changing climate. Click here to learn more about the Forums series.