Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our 4th Mass ECAN Conference on Watershed Scale Climate Collaboration on May 3rd. It was so exciting to be together at this event again – there’s nothing quite like an in-person full day conference!
Mass ECAN conferences aim to create space to learn from each other and connect as a community of practice. Colleagues from a variety of organizations attended, including non-profits, state agencies, municipalities, regional planning authorities, consulting firms, and universities.
In addition to our mixing and mingling, we heard stories oriented around several themes during our sessions:
Opening Remarks: Undersecretary Antos shared updates about EOEEA initiatives, including the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan and the Municipal Vulnerability Program Grants and 2.0 Pilot
Getting Started with New Partnerships: Watershed collaborative leaders shared their experiences, and participants brainstormed about their collaboration goals in peer learning groups
Watershed Scale Planning and Implementation: Speakers highlighted tools available to accomplish this work
Centering Equity in Projects and Community Engagement: Non-profit partners shared examples from their work, and prompted thought-provoking self-reflection on authentically building relationships for resilience
Municipal Collaboration: Colleagues from towns, cities, and Regional Planning Associations (RPAs) shared project examples and explored why regional collaboration across municipalities is key
This year was the first time we had a theme for our conference. This allowed us to dive deeper into this pressing and current topic. See here for the detailed agenda, including links to presentation slides from our incredible speakers.
This conference was also the first time our event was coupled with the release of an outreach toolkit. This toolkit includes an overview piece, storymap, case studies, and videos that highlight why collaboration is essential for climate adaptation and why watershed-scale work is impactful. We hope that you find the toolkit materials helpful to your own efforts, and as you reach out to engage others and connect with fellow practitioners. Feel free to share!
Massachusetts is a leader in climate adaptation, evidenced here by the number of watershed climate collaboratives we have. These collaboratives have grown tremendously in recent years, with new collaboratives continuing to spring up. We hope there continues to be growing support for this work. To that end, we’re planning a Zoom workshop specifically on funding for watershed collaboration. This event will share existing grant opportunities and allow attendees to brainstorm about resources still needed to accomplish this essential work.
Finally, thanks again to the amazing session organizers and sponsors! Thanks also to our host, Clark University, in particular, for the beautiful space and tasty potato salad!
We’re looking forward to continuing the conversation throughout the year! Stay tuned for field trips and the Fall Zoom workshop on watershed collaboration.
Conference attendees hear stories from the Malden Riverworks Project presented by Marcia Manong.