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.