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…

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;…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…