Resources and Press
Read the latest news about Remain Nantucket, Remain Ventures and our many island partners who are working to make the community more sustainable, viable and resilient. Please come back frequently for updates.
Envision Resilience Nantucket
Envision Resilience is a nonprofit organization that works to advance innovative city planning and design in the face of climate change through student and community partnerships. By connecting current and future professionals working across disciplines, the organization creates opportunities for communities to reimagine climate challenges and inspires resilient solutions. Envision Resilience, originally developed by Remain, is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all.
The Vision
A world where communities can adapt and thrive in a changing climate.
The Mission
Envision Resilience is a nonprofit organization that works to advance innovative city planning and design in the face of climate change through student and community partnerships.
The Project
was made possible through Remain Nantucket.
Embracing Adaptation
Visionary Designs Rooted in Community
Since 2021, Envision Resilience has raised the bar on forward-thinking and community-oriented design
Remain Nantucket launched the first Envision Resilience Challenge in 2020, calling on community leaders and stakeholders to work with multidisciplinary student teams to reimagine Nantucket’s downtown waterfront through innovative and adaptive design. It was visionary, explorative and hopeful. In the time since, more than 200 students from nine leading research institutions have connected with community leaders to reimagine coastal edges and urban systems. From floating wharves and raised streetscapes to living, integrated shorelines and net-zero buildings that tap into sustainable materials like hemp-lime construction, these designs have showcased what is possible for a future that is not only resilient, but accessible, equitable and community-centric. The innovative design thinking has inspired coastal communities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island to think differently about what it means to live with more water.
In short, the challenge to the students is to produce visionary and beautifully adaptive designs that illustrate ways that communities can be resilient in the face of climate change. University partners to date include Cornell University, Harvard University, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, University at Buffalo, University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning, University of Maine Augusta, University of Miami School of Architecture, The School of Architecture at Northeastern University, University of Michigan, Yale University, Yale School of Architecture, University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, Syracuse University, Howard University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, University of Virginia, and the program’s first international partner, the University of Toronto.
The program launched in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 2021; moved to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, in 2022; to New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, in 2023; and to Portland and South Portland, Maine, in the fall of 2024. Years five and six will continue work in Maine.
Nantucket
Student team studied three diverse locations along the Nantucket harbor in 2021
Narragansett Bay
In 2022, the students fanned out across Narragansett Bay in search of opportunities for resilient adaptation
New Bedford and Fairhaven
Teams partnered with local leaders in 2023 to better understand the complex nature of community resilience
By the numbers
Five years ago Remain launched the very first Envision Resilience Challenge, calling on five university teams to reimagine Nantucket’s downtown waterfront through innovative and adaptive design. In the time since, the program has worked with some of the nation’s best universities, students, faculty and practitioners to reimagine coastal edges and urban systems through nature-based solutions, regenerative structures and new ways of living that embrace sustainability and equity.
From floating wharves and raised streetscapes to living, integrated shorelines and net-zero buildings that explore sustainable local materials, the student work has inspired conversations and catalyzed action on innovative and adaptive resilience efforts.
-
458
Student participants -
86
Community advisors -
19
Universities -
10
Coastal communities
“The Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge opened up my thinking about what's possible. It raised the bar for developing a longer-term effort for planning across Rhode Island communities. There is no doubt of the impact this program will have for years to come, in all communities it serves. Again, thank you for the Envision Resilience Challenge. ”
Envision Resilience Challenge mural in New Bedford unveiled. Where to find it.
Southcoast Today (August 20, 2024) — At the corner of Sawyer Street and Acushnet Avenue, a large mural high off the ground with a face partly covered by a pair of binoculars with waves on the lens symbolize the threat and the promise of hope for climate resilience. Read the full story here.
2023 Envision Resilience New Bedford and Fairhaven Challenge Semester Recap
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. June 15, 2024 — Since 2020, Envision Resilience has grown with the support and enthusiasm of community members in all three Challenge sites of Nantucket, Massachusetts, Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island and New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts. It’s the people that make the Envision Resilience Challenge what it is. Take a look at…
Eight University Partners Selected for Fourth Envision Resilience Challenge: The 2024 Design Studio and Community Engagement Initiative will Explore Portland and South Portland, Maine
PORTLAND, Maine May 8, 2024 — The Envision Resilience Challenge, a multi-university design studio and community engagement initiative developed by Remain Nantucket, announced today it is headed to Maine with eight universities set to participate. Portland, South Portland and the Casco Bay Islands have been selected as study sites for the 2024 fall design…
Six University Partners Selected for 2023 Envision Resilience New Bedford and Fairhaven Challenge that Calls on Students to Reimagine Buzzards Bay in the Face of Rising Seas
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. May 16, 2023 — Six university partners—including two from the University of Massachusetts system—have been selected for the third iteration of the Envision Resilience Challenge taking place in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, this fall as students develop innovative solutions for coastal communities to adapt to sea level rise. The 2023…
Envision Resilience Challenge Launches Year Three of Design Studio and Community Engagement Program in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. February 9, 2023 — The Envision Resilience Challenge, a semester-long design studio connecting interdisciplinary university teams with coastal communities to inspire adaptive and creative solutions to the challenges of sea level rise and climate change, will take place in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts in the fall of 2023. Enlisting student…
Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge Cohort Wins 2022 Student Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Planning Association
CRANSTON, R.I. January 12, 2023 — The six university teams that participated in the 2022 Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge to design creative solutions to sea level rise have won the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-RI)’s annual student award, ReMain Nantucket announced today. The Envision Resilience Challenge is a semester-long…
Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas—A Month-Long Exhibition of Adaptive Proposals for Sea Level Rise on Narragansett Bay—Opens at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence with a June 4 Open House and Reception
PROVIDENCE, R.I. May 27, 2022 —The Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas exhibition opens with a free community open house on Saturday, June 4 at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The exhibition, which runs from June 4 through June 26, will feature adaptive designs by participating university teams in the…
ReMain Nantucket Opens Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas Exhibition at WaterArts Center in Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. July 2, 2021 — As coastal communities around the world grapple with the rapidly accelerating impacts of climate change, the Envision Resilience Challenge model turns to design as a pathway forward. The Envision Resilience Challenge inspires coastal communities to visualize innovative adaptations to sea level rise that allow us to embrace and, maybe…
ReMain Nantucket Expands Envision Resilience Challenge, Calling on University Students to Collaborate to Reimagine Narragansett Bay
NANTUCKET, Mass. December 7, 2021 — The Envision Resilience Challenge, which calls on university students around the country to develop adaptive and creative solutions to sea level rise, will expand to its second coastal community—Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, ReMain Nantucket announced today. ReMain Nantucket introduced the inaugural challenge on Nantucket in spring 2021,…
Remain Nantucket is committed to supporting the evolution of a healthy year-round community across the island. Remain taps into continuous dialogue to identify challenges and explore solutions. By supporting resourceful thinking and research, Remain builds on Nantucket’s traditions of independence and innovation while adding expertise from a worldwide network. Remain Nantucket, LLC engages in charitable work and community investments as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Schmidt Family Foundation.