Fighting Climate Change Locally

REGIONAL – If climate change and new weather patterns were not already top of mine, the city of Newburyport plans to make sure residents of all ages on the North Shore are aware of ways they can help reduce the impact of rising seas, hurricanes and storms.
With almost $200,000 in state funds, the city is helping 26 local organizations educate residents and build social resilience about climate resiliency through a variety of projects that include art, music, dance and film, as well as construction projects, educational tours of sewer and water plants and planting pollinator gardens.
“It will empower community members to take ownership of their part of the climate change puzzle, leading to a greater understanding and buy-in of future climate mitigation and adaptation measures,” the city’s proposal to the state read.
“By increasing citizen knowledge of local climate resilience issues, as well as engaging in dialogue with city government leaders on specific actions they can take, we are better positioning Newburyport to withstand future climate impacts,” it said.
While the Newburyport program focuses on educating residents about climate change, in Ipswich and Essex, the state grants are funding specific changes to infrastructure affected by rising sea levels. They include $235,000 to relocate the Ipswich town’s wharf pump station and $104,848 for Essex and Ipswich to restore the Upper Castle Neck Salt Marsh.
In Newburyport, there will be Community Action Forums, designed to educate residents and stimulate debate.
Using art, music, dance and film, several organizations will educate and advocate for climate resiliency. They are:
PEG Center for Arts and Activism will conduct a four-month project examining impacts of climate change and pollution on local regions with emphasis on Environmental Justice, art, pollution and public education.
Theater in the Open will produce a dance festival that celebrates nature and bring critical awareness of the local effects that climate change will have on the greater Newburyport area.
The Chamber Music Festival will focus attention on threatened birds by creating a performance of music based on the character and call of 12 birds of significance to the Newburyport community.
In an upcoming concert program, probably next spring, the Newburyport Choral Society will perform Song for a Resilient Community.
Earth Port Film Festival will host an Environmental Film Festival that features a local organization building community resilience.
The Newburyport Documentary Film Festival will hold a free public screening of two climate-related documentaries during 2024 Earth Week on sustainable fishing. It will hold a public discussion before and after the event.
Since climate change will most directly affect young people, several schools and youth-focused organizations will engage in a variety of resiliency programs. They include:
Newburyport Housing Authority/Newburyport Youth Services will create a climate mural at the Sullivan Building, bringing together youth and seniors.
At the senior center and in some affordable housing complexes, there will be three youth-lead climate discussions with community members.
Local youth will create art for storefront windows at Realtors’ offices as part of a month-long public awareness campaign, Forever Green, on sustainability and resilience.
Mass Audubon will bring its sea level rise program to Newburyport working with students to map and study coastal wetland degradation.
The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center will provide science, technology, engineering and math studies for 30 girl-identifying youths as part of a summer 2024 programming, instilling self-confidence combined with knowledge and skills to take on challenges like climate change and climate resilience.
Newburyport 5th Grade will go on field trips to the Newburyport sewer treatment and water treatment plants to understand the natural water cycle and the importance of maintaining healthy drinking water and individuals’ impacts on the ecosystem.
The Ipswich River Watershed Council will offer programming for 5th graders about keeping water clean. This program will educate students and their parents about what happens to water when it enters a storm drain, how water flows through the local watershed and how water can be cleaned and conserved.
Students at Bresnahan Elementary will purchase compost sorting stations for the elementary and middle schools to move towards consistent and sustainable waste management at the schools.
Tinkerhaus, a makerspace on Graf Road, will help teens build bicycle parking stations and raised garden beds to increase self-reliance and promote sustainability. Classes will be provided at a nominal fee.
The city’s Recycling, Energy & Sustainability Department will provide class tours of the recycling center and yard waste facility to help students understand the relationship of waste to natural resources locally and globally.
Other projects include:
Nourishing North Shore will support seedling production as a way of contributing to climate resiliency. PEG will help expand the rail trail gardens. The Plum Island Foundation will restore dune grasses. And the Friends of Newburyport trees will plant three trees in a low income neighborhood and publish an article about climate related benefits of trees.
The Port Parks Alliance will provide education on why invasive species are detrimental, how to identify native species and how to dispose of invasives safely.
The Museum of Old Newbury will offer tours of local gardens, highlighting plantings and techniques that encourage extreme weather resilience. The museum will also restore gutters on historic buildings as a model for how to incorporate climate resilience into preservation plans.
Pollinators Powerworks will expand pollinator gardens throughout the city, particularly in low-income neighborhoods.
For more information, visit the city’s website.