When a land trust, a town and a university saw their properties were at risk of erosion, they sought nature-based solutions and landed upon living shorelines. Living shorelines can protect and restore habitats threatened by rising seas and storm events. Learn how land trusts can promote initiatives like these by working with youth to interview stakeholders, create education forums and hold community conversations to garner support for green infrastrucure solutions.
With the help of passionate local youth, these organizations collaborated with the local high school, members of their local communities, business leadrs, and government officials to take action. These next-generation changemakers researched how living shorelines effectively protect waterways and shorelines. Using land trust properties, and town-owned land, these young people sought to create a living shoreline as a demonstration project for local landowners and businesses. They interviewed professionals, created education forums, and community conversations to engage the town in action. This demonstration project and impassioned youth started meaninful discussions in the community about what is at risk, and how to take collective action to protect the land we know and love.
Leave with details about living shorelines, brainstorm nature-based solutions that would benefit your community, project plans for community roll-out and a guide to hold community conversations to engage your town leaders, and neighbors in climate action. Involving youth in climate adaptation projects is a powerful way to make progress toward climate solutions while giving agency to the younger generation to get involved in their communities and local land trusts.