Wednesday, May 24th 6:30-8:30pm TONIGHT!
TownGreen’s Planning for Reality Climate Impact Series Good Harbor Beach Ecosystem Adaptation
The final webinar in the Good Harbor Beach Ecosystem series will take place TONIGHT Wednesday, May 24th 6:30-8:30pm (register here). We will introduce, discuss, and prioritize adaptation options for possible implementation. Professor Charles Waldheim and Kira Clingen from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design will begin by outlining possible adaptation actions, showing visuals, and offering specific details about how adaptation might work for the Good Harbor Ecosystem. Special guests include a presentation from Chris Leahy, retired professional conservationist with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and a video address from Rory McCarthy, who is working with the local grassroots group Clean the Creek. Jayne Knott, President of HydroPredictions, will round out the program by presenting specific actions that could be implemented in the short-term. The webinar will conclude with a community engagement session, Q&A, and next steps.
Image courtesy of Harvard Graduate School of Design's Office for Urbanization
Public Forum Ecological Restoration on Cape Ann June 1st 5:00-8:00PM
Presented by Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Office for Urbanization, the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, TownGreen, Water Alliance, and Cape Ann Climate Coalition
Join us for an evening of conversation and exploration that looks at ecological restoration on Cape Ann. This public forum, held at the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church, will feature two hour-long panel discussions with a 30-minute intermission that includes healthy snacks and beverages. Senator Bruce Tarr will provide opening remarks.
The first hour's panel will look at Cape Ann's coastlines moderated by Greg Federspiel. Local advisors will explore ecological restoration possibilities for Cape Ann's coastal regions and marshes followed by a Q&A session with the audience. A feedback session with five distinguished professors who serve as academic advisors to the years-long work that Harvard Graduate School of Design's Office for Urbanization is doing on Cape Ann, will round out the hour. The program is focused on listening and learning about the health of Cape Ann's ecosystems, ideas for ecological restoration, and a discussion of what is possible.
The second panel will address forested uplands like Dogtown and Cape Ann's downtown areas moderated by Valerie Nelson. The format will be the same: local advisor discussion, audience Q&A, and academic advisor feedback.
Local advisor panelists, who have been working in groups with Harvard Graduate School of Design's Office for Urbanization since the start of the year, will be announced before the June 1st event. The five distinguished professors are:
- Public Engagement: Dr. Colleen Hitchcock, Brandeis University
- Ecological Planning: Dr. Nina-Marie Lister, Harvard University Graduate School of Design/Toronto Metropolitan University
- Coastal Ecosystems: Dr. Catherine Matassa, University of Connecticut
- Wetland Ecosystems: Dr. David Moreno-Mateos, Harvard University Graduate School of Design/Harvard Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB)
- Forest Ecosystems: Dr. Jonathan Thompson, Harvard Forest
Harvard University Graduate School of Design's Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Office for Urbanization, and Kira Clingen, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Research Associate at the Office for Urbanization, will participate and answer questions.
Ecological Restoration of Cape Ann's Coastlines, Forests, and Downtowns: A Public Forum
Thursday, June 1st
5:00-8:00PM
Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church Vestry
10 Church Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
This is an in-person event with no Zoom access and will not be recorded.
For more information: info@towngreen2025.org
