MIT Sea Grant Hosts a Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Tang Center in Cambridge, MA, between June 16 and 18, 2014

MIT Sea Grant College Program is convening a three-day Climate Change Symposium on Sustaining Coastal Cities at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Tang Center in Cambridge, MA, between June 16 and 18, 2014. 
A discounted fee is offered for registration before June 1, 2014.
Leaders in academia, government, and private industry will address concerns for change in sea level, storm surges, extreme precipitation and flooding and options for adapting to these risks. With shared knowledge and increased understanding, the objective of this conference is to identify ways in which representatives of the various sectors in attendance may wisely use, manage, and protect coastal areas now and in the future.

Among the noted speakers are Thomas Wilbanks of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Margaret Davidson, Director of NOAA’s Office of Coastal Resource Management, Kristina Hill, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at the University of California Berkeley, and many more experts with vested interests in public health and safety. They will share the latest scientific, technical and social information in the following three general thematic areas:

• Current knowledge of the science and uncertainty associated with predictions and future scenarios of sea level rise, storms, precipitation, models, and tools as they apply to coastal cities and populations in Boston, Cambridge and surrounding towns. 
• Understanding risks and responsibilities for public health and safety and the politics and policies that limit what can be done within current practices and regulations. 
• Evaluating adaptation measures that include green landscaping, planning and implementation, communicating with the public, and identifying efforts to mitigate human-related impacts on climate.

Our Non-Profit Organizing Partners include Boston Society of Architects, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, The City of Boston, Greenovate Boston, and UMass Boston Urban Harbors Institute. The Boston Foundation is a lead Symposium Partner, and Partners HealthCare and Sasaki are also event Sponsors.
For more information, and to register for the conference, please visit: http://seagrant.mit.edu/conferences/CCS2014/  
This event is free and open to members of the media.