RESEARCH ON CAMPUS
A Conversation on What it Takes to Build Climate Resilience with Prof. Henry Lee and David Festa Resilience is a term for the ability of social-ecological sys-
In conversation with one of his early mentors from HKS,
tems to adapt, bounce back, and even thrive through shocks
Arctic Initiative Co-Founder and Co-Director Henry Lee,
or stresses. David Festa, Senior VP of Ecosystems at the
Mr. Festa spoke about the three major challenges for most
Enivironmental DeFense Fund (and a Kennedy School alum),
climate-adaptation projects: financing, building equity,
has been working to develop strategies to incentivize man-
and aligning diverse stakeholders and conflicting policy
agement practices support resilient ecosystems throughout
structures. While his remarks made it clear that planning for
his tenure at EDF.
resilience is cost-effective in the long term, he noted that ,in the near term, it takes considerable work to align the financ-
Mr. Festa has a long track record of bringing diverse stake-
ing, interests, and policy to design climate adaptive systems.
holders together to meet growing needs for food, water
Mr. Festa pointed to the great need for Kennedy School
and shelter in ways that benefit the environment and the
students to focus on the leadership and consensus-building
economy. In these interactons he focuses on what it takes to
skills they are learning during their time at HKS as the key
create resilient ecosystems that make it possible for people
to being effective in building connections and trust across
and nature to thrive, even as the planet changes because of
diverse communities. These Skills were key to his work in
climate change, population growth and other stressors.
building more resilient communities, he said.
“Conversations about community priorities are deeply relational. You can’t build resilience without engaging with people.” —David Festa
ARCTIC INITIATIVE 2020
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Belfer Center for Science And International Affairs
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December 2020
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