Climate Change & Infrastructure Resilience
New England Collaborations
Tora Johnson and Judy East attended the EPA New England-sponsored “Preparing for Climate Change Leaders Summit” on November 8, 2013 in Providence RI. Several others attended from Maine including Maine DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, Maine DEP Sustainability Coordinator George MacDonald, and Maine State Geologist Pete Slovinsky.
The Goal of the New England Summit:
“To launch collaborative actions from regional leaders that will make New England municipalities resilient to climate change”
yielded 6 Action Teams with associated “Champions” to work in collaboration on:
- Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Planning: Laboratory and Road Map
- Commissioner Convened State Roundtable with Federal Partners to Coordinate Assessment Resources
- Integrate Adaptation Planning into Business as Usual staring with Public Safety
- Common Data Platform for New England
- Multi-level communication initiative: Making Climate Impacts and Solutions Local and Personal
- Public-private workgroup to scope smarter spending on resilient infrastructure
All of the Action Teams will convene at the Local Solutions: Northeast Climate Change Preparedness Conference in Antioch NH on May 19-21.
Tora Johnson and Judy East are designated "Champions" for the 3rd and 5th Action Teams above; they have shared and will be sharing the tools and results of the Washington County Climate Vulnerability Assessments at several other conferences in 2013-14 including:
- Machias Rotary Club on "Risk of Floods from Rain and Storm Surges”; October 15, 2013
- Keynote presentation to the joint conference of the Maine GIS Users Group and Maine GIS Educators “21st Century Tools for Rural Maine: GROWashington-Aroostook.”, Augusta, ME; November 25, 2013
- Maine Harbor Master’s Association Training Program, Castine, ME; March 19, 2014
- Luncheon address at the Maine Municipal Association's Technology Conference, Portland ME; May 1, 2014
- Proposed session: Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, Stowe VT; September 11-12, 2014
- GrowSmart Maine Summit, Augusta, ME; October 21, 2014
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