Climate justice and youth activism in Boston | One Waterfront Ambassadors weekly wrap-up
Climate justice and youth activism were key themes for the Waterfront Ambassadors’ second-to-last week. In addition to preparing their final presentations for a public poster session, the group attended a Climate Justice workshop and Youth Summit, alongside several other local organizations.
The Climate Justice workshop was hosted by Groundwork Somerville’s Green Team, a youth employment and leadership program. The youth-led workshop featured a presentation about climate change threats and their disproportionate impacts on low-income communities and communities of color. A collaborative case study at the end of the workshop allowed the Ambassadors to work with youth from other organizations in discussing and dissecting ongoing climate change issues. The next day the Ambassadors met with 10 groups at the Charlestown Navy Yard for the annual Youth Summit hosted by the National Park Service (NPS). The annual event is a chance for youth development and employment programs to get together for networking, idea sharing, and team bonding activities. Other groups in attendance this year included the Thompson Island Green Ambassadors, Hill to Harbor, and Spindle City Corps.
“It has been really rewarding to watch the confidence of our Ambassadors build all summer, as they’ve learned more about climate change and how it affects our waterfront city,” said program manager Aubrey. “The two events this week were great opportunities for the Ambassadors to share what they’ve learned with other city teens, and get new perspectives from their peers as well.”
With the program wrapping up, the Ambassadors sat down with One Waterfront Initiative Managing Director Nick Black, to ask questions about the resilient and accessible waterfront parks that the Trustees are working to build along Boston’s harbor. During the six-week program the group visited some of the sites under consideration, and are looking forward to watching the progress over the next year.
“The Ambassadors have been really interested in the thought behind each conceptual park design,” said Aubrey. “They had a lot of questions for Nick, and when he asked whether they’d visit any of the parks, their answer was yes, they’d visit them all! They have been really intrigued about how many purposes a waterfront park can serve, not only to be resilient to rising sea levels, but also to be a beautiful space that is welcoming and engaging for the local community it serves.”
In addition to visiting “Nuestro Jardin / Our Garden” in East Boston for some garden maintenance, and taking another trip to Revere to meet with Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Visitor Services Supervisor Matthew Nash to finish a design project, the group began preparing for their public poster presentation, scheduled for their final week. At the presentation the group will share what they’ve learned throughout the summer program, to their peers, families and members of the public. Stay tuned for a wrap-up from the event!
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To learn more about the One Waterfront Ambassadors program, visit: onewaterfront.thetrustees.org/ambassadors
Click here to read previous weekly recaps from our Ambassadors!