Presentation at 2014 Massachusetts Sustainable Communities and Campuses Conference

1. Engagement, Behavior and Action
Status of Efforts and Local Preparedness
for Climate Change Adaptation
in Small Coastal Communities of New England
PhD Program – LARP - UMASS-Amherst
Advisor: Prof. Elisabeth Hamin
ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
1. Personal introduction
2. The 5 phases of the project
3. Contribution (What’s the most
effective way to move forward?)

2. 1. Personal Introduction
• Architect & Urbanist – market for 2 years
• Professor – landscape architecture /
research project for 11years in Brazil
• Planner in the municipal government – 2
years
• Volunteer in communities at risk in Brazil –
more than 20 years
• PhD program at UMASS Amherst – LARP
Dr. Elisabeth Hamin
• Online Instructor at LARP in Climate
Change Adaptation – use of student-
centered pedagogies to engage students
ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu

3. ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
2. The 5 phases of the Project
PHASE I - Interview with planners in
coastal communities of
Massachusetts (concluded in 2011)
• Interviews were conducted in 2011 with
planners of 15 coastal communities in
Massachusetts + 3 background interviews with
regional planning agencies for the coastal
communities.
• Main goal: verify the barriers and opportunities
to address climate change adaptation at the
local level.
• The coast of Massachusetts was divided in 3
regions:
North of Boston: 5 communities
South of Boston: 5 communities
Cape Cod: 5 communities
Communities interviewed in 2011

4. ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
PHASE II
Coastal communities of Massachusetts 3
years later: Follow up interviews with
planners
• The second data set will be collected
in a series of new interviews starting
in May 2014 in the same 15 towns
interviewed in 2011and with the same
planners (if possible).
• Interviews will focus on changes that
might have occurred regarding the
status of climate adaptation efforts in
those communities.
HURRICANE SANDY
October/29/2012
HURRICANE SANDY VISITS CAPE COD
October/29/2012
Hurricane Sandy hit the east Coast of USA
in October/2012.

5. ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
PHASE III:
Web-based survey with planners
in the Coast of New England
• The web-based survey will be
organized and applied in 76
communities along the coast of New
England. Five out of the six states
will be part of the study: Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, and Maine. Vermont is the
only New England state that does not have an
Atlantic coastline
• Sampling: Criteria based on
demography - cities and towns
between 10.000* and 100.000* with
Planning Department/similar
department constituted.

6. ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
PHASE IV:
Collaborative Public Workshop in
selected communities
• Sampling: Criteria of selection: Based on
the findings from phase 2 and phase 3 –
best practices
• Purpose of the workshops: to bring
people together in a collaborative setting,
including representatives from the
government, local stakeholders and
members of the public, to generate
discussion and capture preliminary ideas,
feelings, thoughts about their own
community and about climate change.
Engagement of the
Community in future discussions
and plans

7. ANA MESQUITA EMLINGER
amesquit@larp.umass.edu
PHASE V:
Comparative Analysis of data
collected / Conclusions
• Accomplishments: a rich understanding
of the researched communities in New
England in order to provide clear
guidance to cities and towns on how they
can move forward on climate adaptation,
based on successful experiences of their
neighbors.
III – CONTRIBUTION
• Many planning projects and policies fail
because of a lack of community
engagement.
"The single most
effective way to move
forward is to help others
move forward as well"
-Seth Godin
Ana Emlinger