Fight or Flight? Climate Justice and Equity

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

“Fight or Flight? Rethinking the Urban Footprint“ is a six-part series that will address how the urgency of climate change requires design professionals to rethink the built environment. Rising seas, extreme heat, drought, and wildfires are among the environmental stressors that will continue to affect communities throughout the United States and the world. We are now confronted with the urgent need of creating relocation strategies for individual households, communities, and cities.  

As architects, planners, landscape architects, and related professionals, it is our ethical responsibility to integrate thinking about relocation into our practices. The economic, social, and environmental impacts associated with climate migration and relocation will be a large part of this conversation, along with equity and environmental justice. We recognize that it is incumbent upon us to find appropriate pathways forward as swiftly as possible. To that end, this series is organized into six sessions: 

• Session One – Fight or Flight? Communicating Science, Risk, and Urgency – December 14, 2020 
• Session Two – Fight or Flight? Overcoming the Crisis of Climate Grief – Janury 21, 2021
• Session Three – Fight or Flight? Pathways from Around the World – March 16, 2021 
• Session Four – Fight or Flight? Navigating Roadmaps to Success – April 1, 2021
• Session Five – Fight or Flight? Stemming the Tide– June 4, 2021 
• Session Six – Fight or Flight? Climate Justice and Equity – June 11, 2021

Climate Justice and Equity

The final program in the Fight or Flight series will focus on issues of climate justice and equity:

• How can we embed environmental justice and equity issues in climate adaptation actions?
• What elements of existing systems must we confront first before we can develop equitable adaptation programs?
• Realizing that we will not be able to fix everything, what should we prioritize to achieve the most equitable outcomes?
• How should public health outcomes inform adaptation programs?
• Is there a federal role in overcoming local politics and systems that may not otherwise support equitable outcomes?
• How do we manage complacency and a false sense that “government” will take care of climate adaptation actions?

Keynote:
Illya Azaroff, FAIA, Co-Chair, AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee; 2021 President, AIA New York State

Panelists:
Lauren Wang, Senior Policy Advisor, NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency (MOR)
Judah Asimov, Senior Manager, Planning and Outreach, RISE Rockaway

Moderator:
Donna Walcavage, Principal, Stantec

Field Report Presenters:
Beth Malone, Program Manager for Resiliency and Insurance, Neighborhood Housing Services Brooklyn
Karen Blondel, Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice
Frank Avila-Goldman, Lower East Side East River Residents Committee
Mike and Vanessa Repasch-Nieves, Edgemere Farm, Rockaways

Postnote and Call to Action:
Klaus Jacob, Special Research Scientist, Seismology, Geology and Tectonophysics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, The Earth Institute, Columbia University
Ron Shiffman, FAICP, Hon. AIA NYS, Professor and Founder, Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development (PICCED)