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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dr. Robert France, of Canada’s Dalhousie University, is to give a keynote address Friday for an “Alewife Corridor Resilience Symposium.”

A symposium on the Alewife floodplain called “Collaboratively Framing Scenarios” takes place Saturday at Tufts University, bringing together the Alewife corridor communities of Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Medford and Winchester to look at the floodplain and explore regional approaches to tackling issues of resiliency and climate adaptation.

Sponsored by the Somerville-based Earthos Institute and Tufts University, the symposium is for anyone making decisions about resiliency, the environment, built environments, neighborhoods, communities, cities and regions and called “particularly relevant for scientists, designers, planners, policymakers, community leaders, students and citizen/resident activists.”

The goal is to create a collaborative environment to tackle issues such as water quality, flooding, local and regional biodiversity, social and economic justice, hazardous waste and collaborative infrastructure, organizers say. The result should be the creation of small groups with representatives from multiple towns, universities and nonprofits that will further develop solutions and seek funding to support and implement them.

The event kicks off with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday in the auditorium of Arlington Town Hall, 730 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, with a keynote address by Dr. Robert France, of Canada’s Dalhousie University, whose work focuses on integrating watershed planning and management; environmental restoration; and the renewal of urban and cultural sites. His books include the “Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design.” Friday events are co-sponsored by Sustainable Arlington.

The main event is from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Tufts University’s Alumnae Lounge, 40 Talbot Ave., Somerville.

The conference is free, but preregistration is required. A box lunch is available for $15. For information, go to the symposium website: alewiferesilience.org or contact symposium co-organizer Sarah Howard at [email protected].


A version of this story appeared originally on YourArlington.com.