Big Ideas and Actions

• Democratize science, create citizen scientists, distribute science knowledge more effectively through digestible media.

• Think about the intersection between science and community organizing. How can we connect science with movement-building?

• Search for ways not just to connect the scientist with the people, but the people with the scientists. Develop a brain trust -- a pool of scientists willing to engage with community organizations and activist groups

How would you design your future coastal community?

• affordable housing

• universal income, jobs in renewable energy

• wind energy, electric vehicles, electric energy

• low-waste communities, clean air and water

• accessible public transportation (bus rapid transit and light rails), walkable communities,  fewer cars,  more ways for people to be outside

• more publicly owned common spaces (parks, gardens, community centers, arts venues, recreational centers, waterfronts, Internet platforms) 

• living waterways and shorelines, respect for wildlife 

• sustainable aquaculture, fisheries, and food systems

• diversity (especially in leadership roles), 

• decentralized leadership and civic involvement (neighborhood level), 

• mobility (ways to leave, reasons to stay)

Needs and Opportunities 

• support for a Green New Deal and Renew New England

• move away from economy and culture of consumption

• epistemological crisis, public not sure what to believe

• citizen science for all ages (more everyday people with ownership of science)

• better ways to visualize systems-level change (infographics, images, and digestible social media posts) 

• re-use instead of recycle economy

• small scientific workshops held for public at libraries

• importance of approaching coastal change through intersectional lenses of racial justice and gender justice. 

• connection of climate justice with organized labor 

• storytelling in climate work (a lived experience that people cannot contest)

Challenges

• curiosity of scientists does not match level of public fear  

• research funded by private industry obscures public trust, with science seen as filtered through parties with agendas (government and corporations)

• tax system is limiting affordable housing

• need for more public knowledge, especially how it pertains to local communities (so many people just aren't aware of the problems that are going on in our local communities and information is often difficult to find on local government websites)