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 even learn to live with rising seas.
The Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge model first launched in the spring of 202 as a coastal resilience initiative connecting academia, local leadership and community members. Following the success of its first iteration, ReMain Nantucket launched The Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge. A spring 2022 design studio, the Challenge called on multidisciplinary teams of graduate and undergraduate students to reimagine at-risk sites in the Narragansett Bay region through an iterative, design-driven approach.
Students across disciplines―architecture, landscape architecture, environmental engineering, law, journalism and economics to name a few―were tasked with identifying threats, researching possible solutions and proposing adaptive pathways forward for selected study areas within Providence, Wickford, Aquidneck Island and the adjacent towns of Barrington and Warren.
Over the last five months, teams from University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, Syracuse University, Northeastern University and the University of Florida have immersed themselves in the culture, values, history and peoples of several vulnerable communities around the Narragansett Bay. In responding to the needs of these communities, teams have presented ideas that are big, bold and innovative, challenging entrenched ways of thinking and showcasing radical reimagining of these coastal areas.
Designs seek inspiration from other cultures and coastal communities that have adapted; they imagine a post-carbon world and regenerative systems; and most importantly, they celebrate inclusive, accessible and community-focused ways of living. This June, you are invited to explore the vibrant history of the Narragansett Bay region, its resilient communities and adaptive possibilities for its future through design.
The Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas exhibition at the WaterFire Arts Center opens on Saturday, June 4 with a Community Open House from 4 to 7 p.m. ET. The event is FREE and light bites and drinks will be offered, but registration is required. Register here.
The exhibition will be open through the month of June. The Envision Resilience Challenge is sponsored by ReMain Nantucket. Learn more at www.envisionresilience.org.
WaterFire Arts Center | Gallery
475 Valley Street, Providence, RI 02908
Open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Wednesday – Sunday | Open late Thursdays