Climate Adaptation Forum

Creating Connections: Resilience and Equity in Transportation
2020-11-20 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax) | Virtual Event
Transportation infrastructure is some of the most expensive to build and maintain, especially in the face of the climate crisis. Everything from public transportation to roads and bridges to the port are deeply impacted by sea level rise, extreme storms and even sweltering heat. Join the Climate Adaptation Forum as we explore initiatives around the country to improve transportation resilience and the resilience of the communities that rely on this infrastructure to get around. We will hear from experts at multiple levels of government who are thinking creatively about how to protect our infrastructure and how to make it responsive to changing needs.
Looking for an opportunity to meet others energized by Climate Adaptation? The Forum is hosting Climate Cocktails on Wednesday, December 2 at 4PM! Get to know and connect with like-minded people over a drink or two and stir up some climate action! More information and registration here.

Forum Co-Chairs
Nasser Brahim, Senior Climate Resiliency Specialist
Woods Hole Group
LinkedIn
Julie Eaton Ernst, Lead Resiliency Engineer
Weston & Sampson
LinkedIn
Rebecca Herst, Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab
University of Massachusetts Boston
LinkedIn
Lauren Miller, Discipline Leader – Climate Resilience
CDM Smith
LinkedIn
Speaker Agenda
Local motives: Local transportation & equity initiatives
Panel Moderator:

Lauren Miller, Discipline Leader – Climate Resilience
CDM Smith

Panelists:

Heidy Persaud, Director of Transportation Equity
CNT

Ann Shikany, State and Federal Policy Advocate
Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program
NRDC

Susanne Rasmussen, Director of Environmental and Transportation Planning
City of Cambridge, MA
Keeping on the right track: Regional transportation infrastructure & equity initiatives
Panel Moderator:
Nasser Brahim, Senior Climate Resiliency Specialist
Woods Hole Group
Panelists:

Porie Saikia-Eapen, FAIA FCIOB RIBA, Director, Environmental, Sustainability & Compliance
Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Hannah Lyons-Galante, Climate Change Resiliency Specialist
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)

Allison Brooks, Executive Director
Bay Area Regional Collaborative

Climate Cocktails
2020-10-01 16:00 - 17:30 | Virtual Event
Join the Climate Adaptation Forum community for Climate Cocktails! Get to know and connect with like-minded people over a drink or two and stir up some climate action!
Climate Cocktails will be held using the virtual platform Zoom. Breakout rooms allow the organizers to randomly create small groups and facilitate better, more engaging conversation. Participants will cycle through three 30-minute discussions. An attendee list will be provided to facilitate follow up.
Need some cocktail inspiration? Click here to view our suggestions! List of cocktails kindly curated by Forum Steering Committee member Carolyn Meklenburg.

How We Decide to Get Serious about Climate Solutions: Politics, Communication, and Framing
2020-09-25 10:00 - 13:15 | Virtual Event
Climate change has evolved into a hot-button, politically charged issue whether you are on the right or left. Communicating messages across audiences is challenging not only because the threat has been politicized but because climate change is often not seen as the emergency it is.
Join the Climate Adaptation Forum and our panel of national leaders to explore climate change communication and framing efforts across the political spectrum. Our panel will answer today’s most pressing questions: How is climate change internalized by different audiences? How have the panelists succeeded in communicating messages across audiences? Does it matter whether climate is framed as a greenhouse gas emissions problem or an adaptation/resilience problem? How does the framing of climate change intersect with structural racism?
Renowned climate change journalists, communication experts, and behavioral analysts will address why more people won’t respond to the threats of climate change with urgency. Are there easy ways to implement knock-out strategic messaging and remove obstacles to ambitious action? Do most people respond to messages of danger, opportunity, injustice, or something else?
This is a can’t-miss virtual event!
Forum Co-Chairs

David W. Cash, Ph.D., Founding Forum Steering Committee Member
Dean, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
University of Massachusetts Boston
Curriculum Vitae | LinkedIn

Sarah Finnie Robinson
Founding Director, The 51 Percent Project
Senior Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Energy
Adjunct Clinical Professor, College of Communication
Boston University
Biography | LinkedIn

Kathryn Meng Elmes, Ph.D.
Carbon Strategic Partnerships
Indigo Agriculture
LinkedIn

Alex Papali, Forum Steering Committee Member
Political Director
Center for Economic Democracy
LinkedIn

Speaker Agenda
Release of the Sustainable Solutions Lab Report – Views that Matter: Race and Opinions on Climate Change of Boston Area Residents

Lorena M. Estrada-Martinez, Ph.D., MPH
Assistant Professor of Environment and Public Health
School for the Environment
University of Massachusetts Boston

Paul Watanabe, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies
University of Massachusetts Boston

Climate Across the Spectrum: Bare-Knuckle Politics in the Field

Moderator: Mary Skelton Roberts
Co-Director of Climate
Barr Foundation

Jacqueline Patterson
Director
NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program

Benji Backer
President and Founder
American Conservation Coalition

Randy Abreu
Policy Director
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)

Psychology, Semantics, and Strategy: Accelerating Response to Climate Change

Moderator: Sarah Finnie Robinson, Director, “The 51 Percent Project”, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Senior Fellow and Adjunct Clinical Professor, College of Communication, Boston University

Elke Weber, Ph.D.
Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment
Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs
Princeton University

Justin Worland
Washington D.C.-based correspondent for TIME
covering energy and the environment

John Marshall
Senior Client Advisor
Lippincott

Building Resilience: Linking Covid-19 and Climate Change
2020-06-05 09:00 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
Collaborating Partner
John Snow, Inc.

The Covid-19 pandemic is disrupting life unlike anything most of the world has ever seen. While there is little evidence that the pandemic is spreading more quickly because of climate change there are clear parallels between the two crises.
Join the Environmental Business Council, the Sustainable Solutions Lab at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and John Snow, Inc. (JSI) for a discussion on climate resilience and the connections between Covid-19 and climate change. Speakers will explore how our responses can make us more resilient to future threats, what climate resilience looks like in this new reality, and highlight success stories.
Juliette Kayyem, national leader in homeland security and disaster response, and Dr. Georges Benjamin, President of the American Public Health Association, will speak about the crisis on the national scale while local public health and environment leaders will share their experience on the ground in a panel moderated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Forum Co-Chairs
Gabriela Boscio Santos, Sustainability Engagement Manager
Boston University
LinkedIn
Nasser Brahim, Senior Planner, Climate Change Team
Kleinfelder
LinkedIn
Terry Greene, Senior Environmental Health Specialist, U.S.
JSI
LinkedIn
Keynote Dialogue with Health and Disaster Response Leaders
Juliette Kayyem
Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security, Harvard Kennedy School
Faculty Director, Homeland Security Project, Harvard University
Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative, Harvard University

Georges C. Benjamin, MD
Executive Director, American Public Health Association

Virtual Breakout Sessions

What connections have you made between the Covid-19 global health pandemic and the climate change crisis?
Have you seen climate preparedness and planning help to move the response to the pandemic forward?
Will the response to the pandemic make responding to climate change easier or more difficult?
What opportunities do you see to create new partnerships and break down silos in response to this pandemic?

Local Response, Local Solutions
Alonzo L. Plough
VP, Research-Evaluation-Learning and Chief Science Officer
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Claude-Alix Jacob, Chief Public Health Officer
Director, Public Health Department
City of Cambridge, MA

Sam Baraso, Program Manager, Portland Clean Energy Fund
Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
City of Portland, OR

Underwater Underwriting: Flood Insurance in the Age of Climate Change
2020-02-28 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
More than 50 million people in the U.S. are at risk from flooding either along rivers and streams or in coastal areas. This number is only rising as climate change causes more extreme precipitation, hurricanes and nor’easters, sea level rise, and more. However, current publicly available flood risk assessment tools are not sufficient to quantify future flood risk and federal flood insurance programs and policies are not yet equipped to address the growing threat.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through its flood insurance, flood mapping, and floodplain management requirements plays a critical role in state and local climate adaptation efforts. Yet, the NFIP’s flood maps are often outdated and do not consider future risks from climate change. While many agree reforms are necessary, attempts to better reflect current and future risks could also impose significant costs on low income communities and communities of color, exacerbating existing patterns of racial inequality in the housing market.
Join us for this EBC/UMass Boston Climate Adaptation Forum to learn about the intersection of flood insurance, risk management, and environmental justice. Speakers will discuss approaches to addressing the shortcomings of NFIP programs and policies, ongoing efforts to better incorporate climate change into the industry, and the unintended consequences that flood insurance reform could have for low income communities and communities of color.
Forum Co-Chairs
Samuel Bell, CFM, Forum Steering Committee Member
Senior Resiliency Planner, GZA
Deanna Moran, AICP, Forum Steering Committee Member
Director, Environmental Planning, Conservation Law Foundation
Speaker Agenda
National Flood Insurance Program: Lynchpin or Liability to Climate Resilience?
Robert Moore, Director, Water & Climate Team
National Resources Defense Council
LinkedIn
Reducing Losses from Flood Risks: The Role of a Behavioral Risk Audit
Howard Kunreuther, James G. Dinan Professor Emeritus of Decision Sciences & Public Policy
Operations, Information and Decisions (OID) Department
Co-Director, Risk Management and Decision Processes Center
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
LinkedIn
Frontline Families & Communities Facing Flood Insurance
Amanda Devecka-Rinear, Executive Director
New Jersey Organizing Project
LinkedIn
Building Resilient Futures
Marion Mollegen McFadden, Senior Vice President, Public Policy
Senior Advisor, Resilience
Enterprise Community Partners
LinkedIn

Building Climate Resilience into Infrastructure
2019-11-22 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
The undeniable reality of climate change has forced planners of infrastructure projects to design for increased temperatures, wind and water in the near future and farther on. This forum presents speakers grappling with how to incorporate climate resilience into planning, financing and maintaining infrastructure systems.
Keynote Speaker Jesse Keenan is a social scientist and a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Professor Keenan has written, consulted and spoken widely on climate adaptation as it affects the built environment. His remarks will frame the morning’s program by providing a compelling overview of the methodologies and criteria under development in the public and private sectors about how to evaluate public and private investments under the name of resiliency and adaptation.
Forum Co-Chairs
Lauren Miller, Principal, Climate Change Services
CDM Smith
Aaron Weieneth, AICP, Manager of Climate Change and Resilience
AECOM
Keynote Presentation: Evaluating Investments in the Name of Resilience
Presentation Not Available
Jesse M. Keenan, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M.
Faculty of Architecture
Graduate School of Design
Harvard University
Speaker Agenda:
Preparing Boston’s Water and Sewer Systems for Future Design Storms
John Sullivan, Chief Engineer
Boston Water and Sewer Commission
Development of Statewide Climate Resilience Standards and Capital Planning Tools
Mia Mansfield, Director of Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Rebuilding Stream Crossing Infrastructure After Tropical Storm Irene
Rob Evans, CFM, Manager
Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Rivers Program
Redesigning Communications Systems to Preserve Access
Greta Byrum, Co-Director
Digital Equity Laboratory at The New School

Changing Climate, Changing Health: Strategies for Addressing Public Health in the Age of Climate Change
2019-09-20 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
The public health field is rapidly shifting to incorporate the new realities of climate impacts. From extreme heat waves to the growing prevalence of diseases, issues with water quality, trauma from storms and allergy and asthma triggers, there are many challenges to address. While we are all vulnerable to this changes, low income communities and communities of color face disproportionate risks.
Keynote Speaker Gina McCarthy, former EPA Administrator and Director of the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard C-CHANGE) will explore some of the key public health issues impacted by climate change. Following her presentation, a panel discussion will dive into both what is happening on the ground to address heat, asthma, mental health and how the built environment is supporting resilient wellness.
Join us for this EBC/UMass Boston Climate Adaptation Forum to learn about how climate change is impacting public health.
Forum Co-Chairs
Gabriela Boscio Santos, Sustainability Engagement Manager
Boston University
Deanna Moran, Director, Environmental Planning
Conservation Law Foundation
Alex Papali, Green Justice Organizer
Energy and Zero Waste Campaigns
Clean Water Action
Keynote Presentation: Climate Change, Health and the Global Environment

Gina McCarthy
Former U.S. EPA Administrator
Director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE)
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Speaker Agenda
Emergency Preparedness & Resilience for Climate Health
Nancy Smith, Program Manager for Community Engagement
Office of Public Health Preparedness at Boston Public Health Commission
Healthy, Low-Carbon Multifamily Buildings for Climate Adaptation, Why, How, and When
Thomas Chase, Project Manager
New Ecology, Inc.
Killer Heat and Its Effect on Public Health
Dr. Adrienne L. Hollis, Lead Climate Justice Analyst
Union of Concerned Scientists
Twelve Years Later: The Long-Term Mental Health Consequences of Hurricane Katrina
Dr. Jean Rhodes, Frank L. Boyden Professor of Psychology
University of Massachusetts Boston
Video: “Asthma Alley”
Click to View the Video – “Asthma Alley”

Disruptive Climate, Disruptive Technologies
2019-06-07 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Climate change is disruptive. Lives and livelihoods from the world’s oceans to its deserts are already impacted and the disruption will continue into the foreseeable future. As we struggle with how to mitigate emissions and stem the tide of change, the business of climate change adaptation and resilience continues to grow in importance. Within this adaptation & resilience market, technology and innovation are driving forward improvements in how we observe, model, analyze, and visualize the changes in our climate, resulting in decision-makers being able to adjust and develop more effective policies and programs.
Join this Climate Adaptation Forum for a discussion about how disruptive technologies are changing the way we approach adapting to our uncertain future.
Forum Co-Chairs
Mark Costa, Water Resources Engineer
VHB
Kelly Knee, Technical Director – Ocean Science
RPS Group
Keynote Speaker
Alice Hill
Research Fellow
Hoover Institution
Technology Demonstrations
Adapt Ready
Shruthi Rao, Chief Executive Officer
Jupiter Intelligence
Alan Blumberg, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Hydroscience Risk Analysis
Leah Cohen, Customer Engagement Leader
SIM-CI
Roger ter Heide, CPO
Disruptive Technology / Policy Innovation
Teresa Crean, Coastal Research Associate, Community Planning and Coastal Resilience
University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center
Grover Fugate, Executive Director
RI Coastal Resources Management Council
Lightning Round Demonstrations
Biobot
Mariana Matus, CEO & Co-Founder
Emerald Tutu
Nicholas Lutsko, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT
Green Stream Technologies
Karen Lindquist, Chief Operating Officer
ISeeChange
Julia Kumari Drapkin, CEO and Founder
RiskMap
Mayank Ojha, Research Associate, Urban Risk Lab, MIT
Upstream Tech
Marshall Moutenot, Managing Director
WAVE of Change
Valentini Sumini, Postdoctoral Associate, MIT MediaLab

Managed Retreat Workshop: Legal and Policy Tools for States and Local Communities
2019-03-01 13:45 - 16:30 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Organized by the Georgetown Climate Center (GCC) and the Climate Adaptation Forum, this workshop will offer participants the opportunity to engage in a facilitated discussion on managed retreat (i.e. relocating development from vulnerable coastal areas) and the legal and policy considerations impacting land-use decisions and human and natural resources movements in response to sea-level rise.
Participants will share their own work and learn from other experts across disciplines confronting questions about managed retreat as one strategy for adapting to rising seas and increased flooding. In addition, participants will have an opportunity to inform ongoing work by the GCC to create an online Managed Retreat Toolkit which is being designed to support state and local government decisions about how to adapt to rising sea levels (forthcoming in Fall 2019).

The ‘R’ Word: Retreat, Relocation and Climate Resilience
2019-03-01 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Climate adaptation efforts are often focused on armoring the built environment against climate risks. But given dire climate projections and the costs associated with retrofits and rebuilding, retreat and relocation should be part of the conversation as well. Join the Climate Adaptation Forum for a discussion about retreat, relocation, and climate resilience. Speakers will touch on the financial, legal and human hurdles to retreat. We will hear stories from around the country of communities and individuals that have successfully moved or are currently grappling with the need to relocate due to climate change and sea level rise.
Forum Co-Chairs
Nasser Brahim, Technical Leader
Kleinfelder
Jason Hellendrung, ASLA, PLA, Vice President, Planning and Design
Tetra Tech
Deanna Moran, Director of Environmental Planning
Conservation Law Foundation
Speakers
Challenges and Lessons Learned from U.S. Retreat
A. R. Siders, J.D., Ph.D., Environmental Fellow
Harvard University Center for the Environment
The Holy Grail: Meaningful Retreat from the Oceanfront
Robert S. Young, Ph.D., Director, Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines
Western Carolina University
Brief Viewing of “Can’t Stop the Water”
Can’t Stop the Water tells the story of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana and the Native American community fighting to save its culture as its land washes away.
Legal and Policy Tools for Facilitating Managed Retreat
Katie Spidalieri, J.D., Institute Associate
Georgetown Climate Center
Climigration from the Ground Up: Helping Communities Determine their Own Future
Carri Hulet, Senior Mediator
Consensus Building Institute
Climigration Network

Utility Resilience: Lessons from Puerto Rico and Local Preparation
2018-11-30 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Adapting utilities to be resilient to climate impacts, from extreme storm events to heatwaves, poses significant challenges and opportunities for providers and communities. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 and resulted in the longest blackout in U.S. History. The Forum welcomes Malu Blázquez Arsuaga, the Executive Director of the Resilient Puerto Rico Advisory Commission, and speakers from Resilient Power Puerto Rico to discuss lessons learned from Hurricane Maria and rebuilding resilient utility infrastructure.
We will then turn our focus to local climate impacts and hear what steps are being taken for regional utility resilience. Local utility providers and communities will discuss on-going projects and challenges for climate adaptation in New England.
Forum Co-Chairs
Julie Eaton, Lead Resiliency Engineer
Weston & Sampson
Alex Papali, Green Justice Organizer
Clean Water Action
Keynote Speakers
ResilientSEE-PR: A multidisciplinary lens for rebuilding communities in Puerto Rico
Yanel de Angel, Associate Principal
Perkins+Will
On the Path to Creating a Stronger & More Resilient Puerto Rico After Hurricane María
Malu Blázquez Arsuaga, Executive Director
Resilient Puerto Rico Advisory Commission
Transforming an Energy Grid One Scale at a Time
Jonathan J. Marvel, FAIA, President
Resilient Power Puerto Rico
Open Discussion Moderator
Alex Papali, Forum Co-Chair
Green Justice Organizer, Clean Water Action
Rapid Fire Panel Presentations
Panel Introduction & Overview of Utility Vulnerability in New England
Julie Eaton, Forum Co-Chair
Lead Resiliency Engineer, Weston & Sampson
Utility Summer Preparation
Sam Woolard, Director – Distributing Engineering
Eversource Energy
Utility Climate Adaptation
G. Paul Anundson, P.E., Principal Engineer
Electric Standards, National Grid
Energy Democracy and Environmental Justice
María Belén Power, Associate Executive Director
GreenRoots
Public Health Response to Extreme Heat Events
Stacey Kokaram, Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness
Boston Public Health Commission
Open Discussion Moderator
David W. Cash, Ph.D., Dean, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
University of Massachusetts Boston

Law and Governance Meet Climate Adaptation
2018-09-28 07:15 - 11:45 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Adapting legal and governance systems to address dramatic changes in climate trends pose significant challenges. The focus of this Climate Adaptation Forum is on the development of new rules, regulations, institutions, and forms of governance needed to respond to our changing climate.
This Forum will:

Provide examples of developing the political will to enact change;
Discuss impediments from existing regulatory programs designed to protect the existing conditions;
Present the findings of the Governance and Climate Adaptation Report prepared by UMass Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab on governance;
And report on Resilient Rhody, the 2018 the Statewide Climate Resilience Action Strategy developed for the State of Rhode Island.

As with past Forums, there will be sufficient of time for audience engagement during the moderated discussion with the speakers.
Forum Chair
Ralph Child, Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Keynote Speaker
Achieving Legislative Change
Representative Kristin Diane Jacobs
Florida House of Representatives
Speaker Agenda
Governance and Climate Adaptation: Updating Policies and Governing Institutions in the Face of Climate Change
David W. Cash, Ph.D., Dean
John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
University of Massachusetts Boston
Resilient Rhody: Rhode Island’s First Comprehensive Climate Preparedness Strategy
Janet Coit, Director
Department of Environmental Management
State of Rhode Island
Resilient Cambridge – Legal and Governance Challenges
Iram Farooq, AICP, LEED-AP, Assistant City Manager for Community Development
City of Cambridge, MA
Adapting Regulations for the Rising Tide
Barbara Kessner Landau, Counsel
Noble, Wickersham & Heart LLP
Moderated Panel Discussion with Audience Q & A
Moderator: Ralph Child, Forum Organizer; Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
Panel Members:

Representative Kristin Jacobs, Florida House of Representatives
Janet Coit, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
Iram Farooq, City of Cambridge
Stephanie Kruel, VHB

Design World Views on Adaptation and Resiliency
2018-06-08 07:15 - 11:30 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Design leaders and urban design exemplars from around the world offer a wealth of inspiration and instruction for climate adaptation and carbon neutrality. This fourth installment in the series of quarterly Climate Adaptation Forums, organized jointly by the Environmental Business Council and the Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) at UMass Boston, will focus on design on an international, regional, and local scale.
Herbert Dreiseitl, the leader of Ramboll’s Living Cities Lab, will follow with a global review of inspiring design solutions for living with water – including examples from Germany, Denmark, Singapore, and the United States. He will highlight how technical innovation and aesthetic strategies are integrated to achieve exemplary climate adaptations at urban scales.To begin this Forum Jurgen Bruns-Berentelg, President and CEO of HafenCity, will discuss what is arguably the most innovative flood-protection development in Europe. This climate adaptation development has resulted in the transformation of Hamburg, Germany’s old port into a vibrant new commercial, residential, and civic district. Through bold public investment in raised streets and infrastructure together with competitive selection used the development was able to attract massive private investment and leading architecture.
After a networking break, a rapid-fire panel discussion will energize the audience. The focus will be on planning and design challenges and successes for climate adaptation projects from around New England.
Forum Co-Chairs:
Jason Hellendrung, Vice President, Planning & Design
Tetra Tech
Ellen Watts, Principal, Co-Founder
Architerra Inc.
Speaker Agenda
From Good City Form to Urban Transformation – Co-development of Urbanity, Sustainability and Resilience. Inspirations from HafenCity Hamburg, Germany
Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, CEO
HafenCity Hamburg GmbH
Cities Thriving with Water: Artful, Technically Innovative, Integrated – Design Strategies That Work
Herbert Dreiseitl, Director, Liveable Cities Lab
Ramboll
Panel Presentation
Summary: Sustainable Solutions Lab Boston Harbor Barrier Study
Rebecca Herst, Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab
University of Massachusetts Boston
Rapid Fire – Projects and Programs Taking Action
Moderator: David W. Cash, Dean, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, Sustainable Solutions Lab, University of Massachusetts Boston
The Case for Passive Survivability
Alex Wilson, President, Resilient Design Institute; Founder, Building Green, Inc.
Suffolk Downs Redevelopment
Thomas N. O’Brien, Founding Partner, Managing Director
The HYM Investment Group, LLC
CRB: From Planning to Action
Mia Mansfield, Climate Ready Boston Program Manager, City of Boston
Coastal Adaptation: Working at Unconventional Scales
Alex Felson, Associate Professor, Yale School of Architecture
Director and Principal Investigator, Yale F&ES + YSOA

Innovative Financing for Climate Adaptation
2018-04-13 07:15 - 11:30 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
The third installment in the series of quarterly Climate Adaptation Forums, organized jointly by the Environmental Business Council and the Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) at UMass Boston, will focus on the challenge of financing climate change adaptation projects.
Financing is one of the major challenges facing climate change adaptation initiatives. This Forum attempts to address the challenges and provide innovative solutions that current and future projects can use to continue the push for adaptation to climate change. In addition, at this event, the Sustainable Solutions Lab will be releasing a new report entitled Financing Climate Resilience: Mobilizing Resources and Incentives to Protect Boston from Climate Risks. This report is sponsored by the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, funded by the Barr Foundation and builds on the Climate Ready Boston project.
Join us for an opportunity to learn about options for financing climate adaptation in Boston and other cutting edge financing models. Speakers from local, regional and global financial advisory, investment, and insurance firms will address specific examples of innovative financing solutions for climate change adaptation projects. Included will be a presentation of the key findings of the new Sustainable Solutions Lab report.
The presentations will be followed by a moderated panel discussion with ample time for audience participation.
AGENDA
Welcome: Daniel K. Moon, President & Executive Director, Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc.
Program Introduction & Overview: Rebecca Herst, Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab, University of Massachusetts Boston
Overview of Financing Climate Adaptation
Lisa Dickson, Steering Committee Member, Climate Adaptation Forum; Associate Principal, Resilience Leader, Arup
Financing Climate Resilience: Mobilizing Resources and Incentives to Protect Boston from Climate Risks
John Cleveland, Executive Director, Boston Green Ribbon Commission
David Levy, Professor and Academic Co-Director
Sustainable Solutions Lab, University of Massachusetts Boston
Innovative Climate Adaptation Financing
Resiliency Bonds and Working with Municipalities
Samantha Medlock, Senior Vice President and North America Lead
Capital Science & Policy Practice
Willis Towers Watson
Green Banks – A Case Study
Stacy Swann, Senior Director
Climate Finance Advisors, LLC
MBTA: Moving Forward with Sustainability
John Markowitz, Director of Treasury Services
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
Panel Discussion
The presentations were followed by a moderated panel discussion.

Risk Management Choices: Adaptation Strategies by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Insurance Industry
2018-01-12 07:15 - 11:30 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
The Second Climate Adaptation Forum, organized jointly by the Environmental Business Council and the Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston, will focus on climate change adaptation strategies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a discussion of the insurance industry’s approach to climate change risk management.
Models of future climate change are the drivers for international and local efforts to adapt to sea level rise and extreme weather, including excessively high temperatures, heavy downpours, and in some regions, severe floods and droughts. The first part of this Forum will address the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ climate change adaptation strategy, including speakers from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, and the University of Massachusetts system.
In addition, this Forum will include a presentation from FM Global, one of the leading insurance companies that is addressing climate change issues. Brion Callori, Senior Vice President at FM Global, will discuss how the company makes the necessary risk management decisions to advise and implement resiliency and adaptation measures in the public and private sectors.
The presentations will be followed by a moderated panel discussion. There will be adequate time for audience participation.
AGENDA
Welcome: David W. Cash, Dean, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
Welcome: Marty Meehan, President, University of Massachusetts
Program Introduction & Overview: Daniel K. Moon, President & Executive Director, Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc.
Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Report from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Matthew Beaton, Secretary
Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Katie Theoharides, Assistant Secretary of Climate Change
Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Resilience in Massachusetts Emergency Management
Thad J. Leugemors, PMP, Mitigation and Recovery Section Chief
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
Moving from Science to Action: UMass’ role in MA Climate Adaptation Efforts
Richard Palmer, Ph.D., University Director
Northeast Climate Science Center
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Modeling the Vulnerability of Transportation Infrastructure to Coastal Flooding Along the Massachusetts Coastline: The good, the bad, and the wicked difficult
Ellen Douglas, P.E., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Hydrology
School for the Environment
University of Massachusetts Boston
Natural Hazards Resiliency – An Insurer’s Perspective
Brion Callori, Senior Vice President
Engineering and Research
FM Global
Panel Discussion – Moderator:
Ralph A. Child, Member
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C.

Climate Adaptation Action by Three Cutting Edge Programs
2017-11-17 07:15 - 11:30 | UMass Club, 32nd Floor, 1 Beacon St, Boston, MA, 02108
Testimonials
“Wonderful speakers. Extremely impressed. Great information shared.”
“Wonderful format & information outstanding.”
“Outstanding presenters, great slides, valuable to hear what is going on in other cities.”
“Great Event. Loved the diversity of sectors!”
“Excellent content! Excellent speakers too! So valuable to get examples and perspective from outside Boston and New England.”
“This was excellent – really knowledgeable, inspiring speakers and panelists.”
The Forum
The Honorable Sally Jewell in discussion with Forum Moderator David Cash
Given that there is a growing understanding of the local impacts of climate change, as well as the impacts of climate change on extreme weather events like the current hurricane season in the United States and Caribbean, the need for innovative and strategic resiliency and adaptation planning and investments is greater than ever.
For this Inaugural Climate Adaptation Forum, the Honorable Sally Jewell, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, will participate in a conversation focused on adaptation and resilience. The Forum then continues with three speakers presenting their active adaptation programs and actions, ranging in region from Florida to New York City to Coastal Virginia.
These three speakers have specifically been selected to provide an opportunity for Boston-based climate practitioners to learn from experts in locations that have already been forced to face climate disruptions.
Finally, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Austin Blackmon, the City of Boston’s Chief of Energy, Environment, and Open Space.
AGENDA
Welcome: Daniel K. Moon, President & Executive Director, EBCNE
Program Introduction and Overview: David W. Cash, Dean, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts – Boston
Adaptation through Collaboration – A Moderated Discussion
A Discussion with The Honorable Sally Jewell
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Moderated by David Cash, and with audience Q&A
Cutting Edge Regional and City Adaptation Programs
Southeast Florida’s Fight Against Rising Seas
Jennifer Jurado, Ph.D., Director and Chief Resilience Officer, Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department , Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division for Broward County, Florida
A Stronger, More Resilient New York
Susanne DesRoches, Deputy Director, Infrastructure Policy, Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency, New York City
Subsidence and Sea Level Rise Affecting Newport News and Tidewater Virginia
Colonel (Retired) Paul B. Olsen, P.E., National Director, SeaWall Coalition; Former Commander, Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Director, Programs and Partnerships, Old Dominion University Office of Research
Ted Henifin, P.E., General Manager, Hampton Roads Sanitation District
Panel Discussion: Cutting-Edge Regional and City Adaptation Programs
Moderator:
Austin Blackmon
Chief, Environment, Energy and Open Space, City of Boston
Panelists:
Jennifer Jurado, Ph.D.
Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division
Broward County, Florida
Susanne DesRoches
Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency
New York City
Paul Olsen, P.E.
Old Dominion University
Ted Henifin, P.E.
Hampton Roads Sanitation District
