Breakout Session 3
International and NGOs
Session #3A | Culture on the Move: Cultural Heritage, Historic Preservation, and Climate Mobility in America Today (45 min.)
The proposed session will focus on the intersection of culture, heritage, and climate mobility and
relocation. The impacts of the Earth’s changing climate are an abstraction for many people. But as these changes continue at rates now exceeding many scientific forecasts, communities around the world are already suffering its effects -including being forced to leave their homes, historic livelihoods, and in many cases tangible cultural assets in search of safer places to live. With whole communities now being displaced, the importance of climate mobility issues cannot be ignored. As people lose their lands, what becomes of their historic and sacred sites? When not just individuals but communities are displaced, how can their cultures be conserved and their traditional knowledge retained? Equally important, how can cultural heritage be used to facilitate the emplacement of these communities. These questions squarely implicate the expertise of the cultural heritage community and local and traditional knowledge holders; yet, cultural heritage considerations have been largely absent from the climate relocation conversation to date.
- Victoria Herrmann | President and Managing Director, The Arctic Institute, Center for Circumpolar Security Studies
- Kristina Peterson | Co-founder, Lowland Center
Session #3B | Now What? Nonprofit Responses to the Resilience Challenge (45 min.)
As older, coastal cities grapple with relative sea-level rise, they soon recognize that jurisdictional confines and political realities limit local governments’ ability to meet the resilience challenge. A special rote emerges for nonprofits in fostering regionalism, creating continuity across political administrations, accessing funding not available to government agencies, and involving new and diverse constituencies.
While the role of NGOs in local and regional resilience is varied and evolving, the models that will be discussed suggest the potential for community based nonprofits to bridge small but otherwise impassable gaps when working in tandem with proactive local governments.
- Skip Stiles | Executive Director, Wetlands Watch, Hampton Roads, VA
- Nathan Lott | Coordinator, Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans
- Dale Morris | Chief Economist, Embassy of the Netherlands