Date/Time: Thursday, July 11, 2024. 12–1pm Eastern Time.

Thoughtful and inclusive community engagement can be challenging in any democratic planning process or placemaking project, but the increasingly urgent need to adapt our built environment to respond to the climate crisis can further complicate things. 

While many communities may support the idea of climate impact mitigation efforts, adaptation can radically impact people’s homes, neighborhoods, and public places. Due to the technical nature of these projects, local decision-makers sometimes also sidestep community input and defer to “experts who know best.” All of these can lead to contentious public debates and heightened distrust of decision-makers, given the long history of environmental injustice in the US.

What examples of different placemaking approaches and community engagement strategies have been effective in building consensus and garnering support for the necessary transformation of our cities to respond to the climate crisis? How do we reconcile the need to act quickly and the need to rebuild trust in communities, which often takes time?

Join us for a discussion about the state of community engagement in climate adaptation projects in the US, including case studies from Seattle and New York City, and a reflection on lessons learned to inform future projects.

Speakers 

Trever Holland, Chair of New York City Community Board 3’s Parks, Recreation, Resiliency and Waterfront Committee
‍Trever Holland is the Chair of Community Board 3’s Parks, Recreation, Resiliency and Waterfront Committee in Manhattan, New York. He is also the President of Tenants United Fighting for the Lower East Side (TUFF-LES), the President of the Two Bridges Tower Resident Association and the co-founder of the Friends of Pier 35. Trever has lived along the Lower East Side waterfront for the past 27 years where he has advocated for equitable social and climate resiliency projects. Passionate about design and the critical role it plays especially in low-income neighborhoods, Trever promotes affordability, commercial and residential community development, disaster recovery preparedness, transportation and resilient infrastructure.

Paulina López, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition
‍Paulina has over 25 years of experience working on issues of civil rights, social environmental justice, equity, education and diversity. Paulina is keenly in tune with the strengths and challenges of this community as it moves toward environmental health and social and climate justice. Paulina, highly regarded organizer, facilitator, community and policy strategist, movement builder focused on building systems of power and shifting power outward to those most impacted by injustice and oppression. Developed consulting with governments, organizations, community and foundations to identify ways to shift power dynamics, and develop frameworks for collaborative co- creating and transformative governance. Through this work and her leadership in social, environmental, and racial justice organizations, Paulina has developed expertise in multi-sector stakeholder engagement, networks, collaborative problem solving, and building power with BIPOC communities of color, immigrants, and refugees. Paulina emigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador and has made Seattle her home for the past 18 years. She first joined DRCC/TAG as a volunteer, advocating in her community for access to a safe, clean environment for South Park’s families. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law from St. Thomas University.

Kristin Marcell, Director, Climigration Network, Consensus Building Institute
‍Kristin Marcell is a program designer, coordinator, and director with more than 18 years of experience managing partner networks and assistance programs that build collaborative capacity and innovate on technical, funding, outreach, leadership development, and decision-support challenges to create national models for climate adaptation. She is Director of the Climigration Network, a growing national network of 200+ members advancing community-led projects to address climate displacement in the US. The Network hosts the Next Step Cohort (NSC), an award-winning peer learning and participatory grantmaking initiative co-designed by community and indigenous leaders alongside experts in adaptation and philanthropy. NSC supports direct investment of funds and technical resources into place- and culturally appropriate projects to advance community responses to climate-driven displacement. The Network is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Argosy Foundation and a partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Learn more here: https://www.climigration.org.

Moderator 

Kurt Wheeler, Program Manager, Market Cities, Project for Public Spaces. Kurt manages all Market Cities Program activities, including projects, trainings, conferences, and the Market Cities Network. She also contributes to strategic planning and communications. Kurt began working with Project for Public Spaces in 2014, and over the course of her time with the organization she has managed a wide range of community placemaking projects, and conducted research on public market and public space issues. Kurt holds a master's in urban planning and she is passionate about working with communities to build a world that can better anticipate and respond to a broad range of stresses, challenges, and opportunities.

If you have any questions about this training or registration, please contact events@pps.org.

‍

Top photo is Seattle’s Duwamish River, credit: Jovelle Tamayo