Last week at SCC
June 9, 2026
From Saturday May 30th - Friday June 5th the SCC team supported 11 community based events and meetings across four states:
Massachusetts
Leominster Youth Engagement Forum
Over the last several months, staff at SCC have been partnering with Leominster High School students to co-design a youth engagement forum that centers their own experiences and ideas in planning for climate impacts. On Saturday, May 30th, we finally had the absolute privilege to put that planning into practice. Think Model UN meets flood resilience planning; students each played different roles - a busy resident, a small business owner, a mobile home park community leader, or Emergency Management staff. These roles helped students ask what are the unique challenges to a resilient Leominster based on their role, identify root causes for these challenges, and ultimately generate solutions that can be implemented at the local level.
The result was a carefully crafted strategy for the City of Leominster to create a Climate Committee that elevates and responds to residents' concerns through local regulations, budget decisions, and coordination among community partners. We walked away with a firm belief that we need to be doing more youth engagement. The students brought critical questions, creativity, and insights that will and should impact the trajectory of plans for flood resilience in Leominster.
Cohasset resilience hub community wide open house
The Town of Cohasset has convened a Social Resilience Coalition, which includes social service providers, municipal staff, and other community partners, to explore the development of a community resilience hub that places social services at the center. Over the past year, SCC has supported the coalition in a community-based planning process to identify potential sites for a Community Social Resilience Hub that supports community members, coordinates connectivity and communication, distributes resources, and supports emergency management.
On Thursday, June 4th SCC, Town Staff, and Coalition members hosted a Community Open House where community members were able to move from “station” to “station” to engage in various activities to learn why and how the Coalition was formed, what a resilience hub is, and the identification process, as well as share input on social infrastructure in Cohasset, add to a “dream hub” blue print to share what features they want to see in a hub, and identify important criteria to be included in the hub identification process. At the end of the event we were left learning more about how residents not only would like to see the resilience hub serve during times of crisis but also serve as a space where the community can gather to play music and garden. A recurring theme residents shared was that no site is the “perfect site” especially in a Town like Cohasset where resources and people are spread out and not connected by public transit infrastructure, raising the importance of the “hub-and-spoke” model where there is a central “hub” but also multiple sites across the town that also provide resources and services.
Hopkinton Resilient Land Initiative Neighborhood Site Tour - Main Street
The Town of Hopkinton launched the Hopkinton Community-Led Resilient Land Initiative, a collaborative project focused on reducing stormwater flooding and providing public health benefits. SCC has been working over the last few months with community members and Town staff to develop site evaluation criteria and potential site locations.
On Tuesday, June 2nd community members joined SCC, Hopkinton Town staff, and BSC on a Neighborhood Landscape Tour where we visited three potential nature-based solutions and green infrastructure sites along Main Street, including Center School Trail, Icehouse Pond, and Sandy Beach. Together we discussed hazards, current trail projects in development, personal experiences with the sites, as well as envisioned what the sites could be. Community input, along with technical site analysis, shared during the tour will be used to identify the site that will move forward with for the design phase. Walking around Icehouse pond, residents were able to share personal experiences with the pond, including watching an otter dive for fish, and together experience the beaver dams along the river and bird watch. We left the tours learning more about the co-benefits community members are interested in, including supporting the local wildlife, increasing water quality in local water bodies, and easing traffic concerns.
Hopkinton Resilient Land Initiative Neighborhood Site Tour - Legacy Farms
On Wednesday, June 3rd community members joined SCC, Hopkinton Town staff, and BSC on a second Neighborhood Landscape Tour where we visited an additional three potential nature-based solutions and green infrastructure sites at Legacy Farms, an environmental justice community within Hopkinton. Together we discussed hazards, current trail projects in development, personal experiences with the sites, as well as envisioned what the sites could be. Community input, along with technical site analysis, shared during the tour will be used to identify the site that will move forward with for the design phase. During the event groups including Town organizations like the Conservation Commission and Trails Committee and local Legacy Farms residents, that don’t traditionally interact were able to share their own expertise, live and technical, and we all were able to leave with a better understanding of the sites including concerns and potential designs.
Vermont
Vermont Municipal Climate Planning Guides - Pilot Community Meetings
SCC met with three of the Vermont municipalities piloting the Municipal Climate Planning Framework and Guide - Pawlet, Bristol, and Wallingford, Vermont! The aim of these conversations was to understand what successes, challenges, and opportunities these communities are having in piloting the guides as our team works with the State of Vermont Climate Action Office to amend the guides over this summer and fall.
Downtown and Historic Conversation Session on Climate Planning in Historic Communities
SCC’s Peyton Siler Jones joined Jane Lazorchak, Climate Action Office Director at Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, and Laura V. Trieschmann, State Historic Preservation Officer, at the 2026 Downtown and Historic Preservation Conference in St. Albans to talk about climate planning and adaptation from the building to the community scale.
North Carolina
Resilience Hubs Mapping recommendations & map review
As part of the City of Asheville Resilience Hub Mapping project, SCC supported a meeting with City of Asheville staff to review draft results of the participatory mapping project, discuss potential recommendations for Municipal Policy, and co-create an approach for finalizing the project and implementing next steps.
Swannanoa Know Your Risks Event
Through our team’s work with Mountain True Appalachian Design Center, we supported a ‘Know Your Risks’ event at Warren Wilson College on Saturday, May 30th. Our team appreciated the opportunity to work with Swannanoa residents to help them gain a better understanding of how flooding, landslides, and wildfire could affect homes and the broader community.
Maine
Site Visit with GMRI to Popham Beach
SCC and partners at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) visited Phippsburg as part of an ongoing project to complete a climate vulnerability assessment for the town. We visited a fish ladder, stopped by the location of an upcoming community visioning workshop in July, and met with community members for a participatory mapping activity.
While there, we also had the opportunity to learn about an upcoming project through the State of Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands to develop a comprehensive resilience plan for the Popham peninsula. The peninsula is home to unique coastal dune and estuarine systems, historic sites, and recreational landmarks that are all experiencing changing conditions. The State is boldly looking at all possible solutions for the viability, safety, and accessibility of the park.
This session will be from 1:45 – 3:00pm at the St. Albans Museum. During this session Laura will discuss the National Park Service guidance on rehabilitating flood-damaged historic structures, offering design strategies that balance flood resilience with historic preservation standards. Jane and Peyton will introduce Vermont's Draft Municipal Climate Planning Guides and SCC’s ongoing pilot program for the guides and dig in to a particular Vermont community case study that highlights the tensions, and opportunities, of flood resilient historic downtowns. Participants will leave the session with a practical framework for making informed decisions about climate vulnerable historic assets.