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Mass ECAN May News
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I hope this email finds you safe and finding community remotely. These are unusual and challenging times, but Mass ECAN and our work groups are continuing our efforts. As the climate adaptation community responds and develops resources related to COVID-19, we'll be sure to share those with you here.
See below for news specifically curated for our community of practice:
Feel free to forward this newsletter to your colleagues and encourage them to join us. At any point, you can reach out to massecan@umass.edu with ideas about what our Network should tackle next.
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Wishing you all the best in these challenging times,
Melissa Ocana
Climate Adaptation Coordinator, UMass Amherst
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Connecting the COVID-19 pandemic
and climate change
The current reality presents both challenges and opportunities for our climate adaptation work. There are clear parallels between these two global crises and actions being taken now on COVID-19 could hopefully provide lessons learned for climate action. In this recurring section, we'll share resources that help connect the dots.
Thoughtful communications:
How do we communicate about climate change during these times? We want to call out important and timely connections to climate change when they are relevant so that we are poised for transformational change on the other side of this crisis. But, we must be respectful of the challenging circumstances and limited bandwidth that everyone is experiencing. This is currently an active area of work, but below are a some initial pieces from science communicators and marketing professionals.
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Are you working on something related to
COVID-19?
Are you connecting your climate adaptation efforts and the current pandemic? Are you leveraging your established relationships with peers and partners to mobilize COVID-19 responses? Is your work to build more resilient human and natural communities spilling over into building communities resilient to pandemics? We would love to hear about COVID-19 work that you are currently a part of. Send your story to massecan@umass.edu and we may include it in future newsletters. Thanks for everything you all are doing to take care of yourselves and others, respond to the pandemic, and advance climate adaptation!
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Mass ECAN Member Spotlight
Every month, we'll highlight someone in our community of practice so you can learn about the variety of adaptation work going on and "meet" a new colleague!
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Kara Runsten
Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Manager
MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Bio: Kara administers the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant program that provides support for cities and towns in Massachusetts to begin the process of planning for climate change resiliency and implementing priority projects. Kara has experience working in the government, consulting, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. She is excited to get outdoors more in the near future once it is safe to do so and to go on her currently postponed vacation to Costa Rica.
Climate change adaptation project she’s currently excited about: Continuing to work with the MVP regional coordinators to improve and build out the program and its resources (including related to nature-based solutions!) and set up more opportunities for best practice sharing among communities. She strongly believes working together and sharing ideas is key to taking meaningful steps forward in preparing the Commonwealth for the impacts of climate change.
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Funding Opportunity - The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) has announced its next round of Planning and Action Grants through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program:
- Planning Grant proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis through Aug. 7. See the RFR here.
- Action Grant proposals are due June 11. See the RFR here.
- Learn more from this informational webinar
Funding Opportunity - The Office of Coastal Zone Management is offering their newest round of grants through the Coastal Resilience Grant Program. Proposals are due on Jun. 11 and the RFR is available here.
Other EOEEA updates -
- Fact sheet - The Resilient Massachusetts Action Team has recently published a fact sheet on efforts to advance actions from the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan (SHMCAP), Climate Resilience Standards, Guidelines, and Capital Planning Tool. Learn more here.
- Op-ed - Read Sect. Theoharides' Earth Day article connecting climate, nature, COVID-19 and the work of the Commonwealth
Webinar - MassLand is offering a series of webinars after their March conference was unfortunately cancelled. Learn more here. Sessions are 12 - 1:15pm and include many Mass ECAN member speakers:
- May 5, Resilient Lands: Nature's Value in a Changing Climate
- May 12, Keynote by Jad Daley, CEO of American Forests, How Land Conservation Can Unlock Forest Climate Solutions
- May 19, Land Trusts and the Municipal Vulnerability Program
Webinar - Mapping Nature Based-Solutions for Climate Resilience – Exploring the MVP Action Grants, by Sara Burns of The Nature Conservancy. May 20, 1pm. Hosted by the EPA Southern New England Program (SNEP). Register here.
Webinar - Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) is hosting a climate adaptation webinar on Forest Birds, including Tom Lautzenheiser of Mass Audubon. May 21, 12pm. Register here.
Award Opportunity - Nominations for the Climate Adaptation Leadership Awards are open! This honor recognizes efforts to bolster natural resources and is organized by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. Submit nominations here by May 15.
Award Opportunity - The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) is accepting nominations for the New England Regional Adaptation Leadership Award. Submit by May 11 here.
Research opportunity - Seeking examples of place-based adaptation multi-stakeholder workshops held since June 2017. EcoAdapt and Virginia Tech are conducting a study to improve adaptation workshops. If you have organized one and would like to participate, let them know here.
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In case you've been wondering what to read next....
- Compilation of nature-based solutions (NBS) funding sources: The Environmental and Energy Study Institute has provided a fact sheet here of federal funding and technical assistance available to explore and implement NBS.
- Ecosystems research article: The National Climate Adaptation Science Center has published an assessment of climate impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services in the U.S. and implications for natural resource management.
- Climate-smart gardening: If you're using this "pause" to get out in your garden, the Northeast Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change (RISCC) Management just created a what-to-plant list "Gardening with climate-smart native plants in the Northeast" here.
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Here's to having a supportive community and network!
Remember that climate adaptation practices and the relationships built through networks can build resilience to all kinds of perturbations, including the current pandemic. Please take care and reach out to peers for support!
Need a little boost of optimism? See here for an article connecting climate, wildlife, and COVID-19: "In this time of uncertainty and loss, she is heartened by the speed with which humans have responded to the coronavirus. And she thinks the tools people have developed to deal with the pandemic may be helpful in confronting climate change. 'How do we take these good things and hold onto them,' she asked, 'and steer them toward the larger climate conversation?'"
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Why am I getting this email?
Welcome to Mass ECAN!
You are receiving this email because you joined Mass ECAN.
Welcome to a supportive community of climate adaptation practitioners and researchers who are interested in ecosystem resilience and natural resources conservation in Massachusetts.
Mass ECAN is creating a space for us to learn from and with each other. Together, we can build capacity for climate adaptation that promotes ecosystem resilience and weaves natural resources conservation into actions across sectors. |
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