In 2020, Remain launched the inaugural Envision Resilience Challenge on Nantucket Island. The Envision Resilience Challenge was originally developed by island-based organization Remain as a response to the increase in rising sea levels, downtown flooding and storm frequency and intensity—and the belief that visions of a more resilient future could inspire the Nantucket community to think differently—perhaps more optimistically—about living with more water. Five years and more than 500 students later, the program has grown into its own organization, powered by an ever-growing network of designers, planners, local leaders, residents and practitioners across the Northeast. A Boston office opened at 110 Chauncy Street in 2025.

While the organization has grown an expanded mission and operational programming, at is core remains the Envision Resilience Challenge—its signature program—an annual place-based, multi-university design studio run in communities throughout the Northeast. Graduate and undergraduate students studying architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture partner with communities through an iterative process that produces speculative designs for adapting neighborhoods, parks, businesses and waterfronts in the face of climate change. With each new Challenge, Envision Resilience has addressed the pressing environmental issues facing communities—from rising seas and increased flooding, to transportation and access, housing and food security. As the Challenge alumni step into the professional world, they bring with them the experience of designing in community—collaborating with residents, thinking across disciplines and shaping a more optimistic, adaptive future.

Working directly with grassroots community organizations, nonprofits, municipalities and leaders and visionaries in climate science, landscape architecture, sustainability, architecture and design, Envision Resilience merges student design thinking and innovation with long-term planning to support green infrastructure initiatives, resilient and inclusive communities and positive climate futures.

Unlike the traditional design studio in a one semester format, the Envision Resilience Challenge is a three-phase community engagement and design studio initiative spanning 18+ months—creating pre- and post- studio programming.

2025 marks the fifth year of programming. Envision Resilience Challenges have been run in Nantucket, MA (2021), Narragansett Bay, RI (2022), New Bedford and Fairhaven, MA (2023), Portland and South Portland, ME (2024) and Midcoast, Maine (2025). 

Envision Resilience Challenges have three phases spanning 18+ months:

• Phase I–Community Engagement: 10-12 months of on-the-ground outreach, research and relationship building in each new community followed by,
• Phase II–Design Studio: A multi-university design studio in the fall semester, inclusive of a kickoff faculty workshop, studio site visits, a multi-week Speaker Series, a midterm review, a final jury review with leading practitioners in the field and community events.
• Phase III–Community Programming and Public Art: Another 6-12 months of community programming that includes the rollout of student designs through an exhibition, public art, collaborations and event

Envision Resilience recently published a comprehensive studio report from their Portland and South Portland Envision Resilience Challenge. The studio report compiles and contextualizes the research, design strategies, interventions and community-informed visions of resilient and adaptive futures that emerged from the 2024 program and its eight university teams – intended to serve as a catalog of research, tools, concepts and designs. The goal is that, while not being prescriptive or exhaustive, the student visions can further existing projects and spark new ideas in the face of increased storms, flooding and other stressors throughout the communities.

Envision Resilience is currently archiving, documenting and publishing all studio work to date (2021-2025). Once published, the studio reports will be readily available and accessible for order and to explore online.

In 2025 Envision Resilience launched a National Design Studio Awards, giving eight university teams funding to support design studios that will explore adaptive solutions to climate change in rural, urban and mid-size communities. Universities that received the inaugural grants are Mississippi State University, University of Arizona, University of Houston, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Washington, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Yale University. The National Design Studio Grant was created to expand Envision Resilience’s mission of advancing the collective practices of planning, architecture and landscape architecture and fostering the next generation of leaders through student and community design.