Despite overnight winter weather, ACEC/MA welcomed a full room of attendees to CDM Smith in Boston for a breakfast program focused on climate resiliency planning in Massachusetts.
The event brought together leaders from state government, municipalities, regional infrastructure agencies, and the engineering community for an important discussion on how the Commonwealth is planning for and responding to climate impacts. As climate risks continue to grow, the engineering, policy, and infrastructure decisions being made today will play a critical role in shaping the resilience of Massachusetts’ communities and systems for decades to come.
ACEC/MA thanks CDM Smith for hosting the program and welcoming members and partners for the morning discussion.
The program began with remarks from Mia Mansfield, Assistant Secretary for Resilience, and Sarah Alexander, Director of Resilience and Finance at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Their presentation highlighted the Commonwealth’s ongoing work to incorporate climate resilience into the building code and infrastructure design, and how state policy and financing tools can support communities as they plan for climate impacts.
The program also featured a panel discussion moderated by Undersecretary for Decarbonization and Resilience Katherine Antos, who led a conversation on how climate resilience planning is being implemented across a range of infrastructure systems throughout the region.
Panelists included:
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Peter DeBruin, Massachusetts Port Authority
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Chris Mancini, Save the Harbor, Save the Bay
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Chris Osgood, City of Boston
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Stephen Estes-Smargiassi, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
ACEC/MA also thanks Board President George Preble of Beals + Thomas for helping lead the program and welcome attendees.
ACEC/MA is grateful to everyone who joined the discussion despite the weather and contributed to an important conversation about strengthening climate resilience across Massachusetts infrastructure systems.
You can find the presentation from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs here.