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Placemaking in a Changing Climate Integrates Adaptation and Revitalization Best Practices

Thursday, January 10, 2013 9:52

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(Before It's News)

By Melissa Everett, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley

If we hope to take effective action on climate change in today’s resource-constrained world, above all we must work with human factors to draw out creativity and participation so that citizens can be a full part of their communities’ responses. Placemaking in a Changing Climate is a learning framework, linking climate mitigation and adaptation by exploring how to create livable, vibrant, beautiful communities that are low-carbon and designed for resilience. Adaptable for professionals–or for citizens and political decision makers–the curriculum qualifies for continuing education units for architects, planners, and landscape architects. Created by Sustainable Hudson Valley and the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), this program was rolled out in the Mid-Hudson Valley in 2012 with financial support from Clean Air-Cool Planet‘s Community Catalyst Fund.

A diverse group gathered September 10, 2012 on the shores of the Hudson River at Norrie Point Environmental Center with presenters Phil Myrick, AICP (PPS), Denisha Williams, ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) and Melissa Everett, Ph.D. (Sustainable Hudson Valley). The day covered principles such as designing streets for mixed use as places in their own right; cooling strategies using green infrastructure; and lighter, quicker, cheaper “pop-up” tactics for community design. Representing specific properties from the Roosevelt Estate to the Woodstock Library, as well as watershed associations, landscape architecture firms and local governments, participants brought their own case materials on challenges such as preserving a forest around the public works complex of a sprawling town, educating citizen leaders in the regional Transition Towns network, dealing with civic apathy in floodplain development, and making local solar installations more attractive by integrating them with public art.

CA-CP’s support also allowed us to establish a spring 2013 training session at the State University of New York (SUNY Ulster, April 6) and create marketing materials for additional outreach. Placemaking in a Changing Climate is now available as an introductory workshop, in-depth training and customized local problem-solving workshop throughout the Northeast.