Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge
ReMain Nantucket to showcase student design proposals in Thomas Macy Warehouse Exhibition through December 2021 Claire Martin
An island haven of beautiful beaches, bustling harbors and historic architecture, Nantucket draws thousands of visitors from around the world every year who relish in its island magic. On the shores of this island haven, the Nantucket community is facing a change in its crosswind—and deciding how to best preserve the beaches, harbors and historic town in the face of climate change. The Nantucket community is becoming increasingly engaged in conversation on adapting to impacts of climate change like sea level rise. This winter there were a number of concurrent initiatives addressing the issues of storm surges, sunny-day flooding, erosion and rising water across the island. While mitigation, adaptation and preparedness are central to the Town of Nantucket’s work, ReMain Nantucket set out to challenge the community to reconsider how to approach the reality of living with rising seas. Last year, the Town of Nantucket officially adopted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s “High” Sea Level Rise Scenario for planning purposes. Under this projection, Nantucket will regularly see the waters surrounding the island rise by 4.13 feet above local mean sea level by 2060, 6.36 feet by 2080 and 9.25 feet by 2100. “Can we choose to embrace sea level rise as an opportunity?” asked Cecil Barron Jensen, executive director of ReMain Nantucket. “Instead of being consumed by the fear associated with sea level rise, can we live beautifully with more water? Can we adapt in ways that will make us stronger in the face of climate change?” Five leading design schools set out to answer these questions and more. The Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge—an open-sourced, virtual design studio launched in January 2021—invited teams from University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning, 42 • 2021 Official Guide to Nantucket
Harvard University Graduate School of Design, University of Miami School of Architecture, the School of Architecture at Northeastern University, and Yale School of Architecture to consider imaginative ways to redesign Nantucket’s historic waterfront, from Brant Point to the Creeks, in response to sea level rise. The community was invited to follow along as the students and their professors tuned in to weekly lectures from experts in the field, engaged with local Nantucketers and sought out possible adaptive solutions. “The depth of knowledge presented each week was stunning,” said Cecil. “It was as if we were all invited to participate in graduate-school level thinking on the subject.” The full calendar of recorded lectures can be found in the Speaker Series library at www.envisionresilience.org/ speaker-series. On June 5, the Nantucket community is invited to an outdoor event at the Great Harbor Yacht
