TOPIC: GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE ADAPTATION
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH FROM 12:00-1:30 PM ET
WHERE: VIRTUAL LECTURE, REGISTER AT:
https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J2xOxGzzQ3K3TXOMZqzBkg#/registration
Joan Fitzgerald, Professor of Urban and Public Policy at Northeastern University, will deliver a virtual lecture on the governance challenges of adaptation to climate change, on September 27th from 12:00-1:30 p.m. Professor Fitzgerald will discuss what local municipalities and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts need to do to protect their coastlines and to respond equitably.
Coastal Massachusetts is already experiencing dramatic coastal flooding that will keep increasing due to sea-level rise and more frequent and severe storms. Already, for example, Boston has more sunny-day flooding from high tides than any other city in the nation. Drawing from her recently completed Boston Foundation Climate Progress Report, Prof. Fitzgerald will discuss what the Commonwealth needs for effective governance of these increasing threats.
“There are four key barriers intensifying these challenges for local municipal governments”, says Fitzgerald, “including 1) limited jurisdiction to act since much of the coastline is privately-owned; 2) outdated and complex permitting requirements; 3) lack of a statewide governance structure to focus on the Commonwealth’s entire coastline; and 4) insufficient funding to pay for costly resilience infrastructure.”
As a recognized leader on climate mitigation and resilience in Massachusetts, Fitzgerald’s research focuses on urban climate action and strategies for linking it to equity, economic development, and innovation. In her fourth book, Greenovation: Urban Leadership on Climate Change (Oxford Univ. Press, 2020), she argues that the climate strategies of most cities represent random acts of greenness rather than integrated and aggressive action. She points to leading cities in North America and Europe and offers strategies for cities to accelerate their action.
This virtual lecture is the third in a series of Cape Ann Conversations: Changing Coastal Communities hosted by Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s Office for Urbanization. These convenings form a portion of the ongoing multi-year climate adaptation research project for Cape Ann, undertaken in collaboration with Town Green, the Water Alliance, the Cape Ann Climate Coalition, and the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea.
Register at
https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J2xOxGzzQ3K3TXOMZqzBkg#/registration
www.bit.ly/capeann2
Hope to see you there!
Valerie I. Nelson
Water Alliance
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