IA: Island(ing) Adaptations; Leveraging Data to Inform Resilience

Co-hosted by Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture & The New York Climate Exchange

DESCRIPTION/DETAILS:

Islands don’t just adapt to rising seas – ideally they innovate with them. From Manhattan’s waterfront neighborhoods reimagining their relationship with the New York Harbor, to Singapore’s historic integrated water management practices and future off-shore artificial barrier islands to Helsinki’s bold experiments with living shorelines in the Baltic, island cities are writing the playbook for climate resilience.

Island(ing) Adaptations brings together visionaries from government, design, finance, academia and policy who are gathering critical environmental data and turning water into opportunities across three key archipelagos. They will engage in a series of flash talks and moderated discussion focused on the interrelationships between data, design and implementation ranging in subjects from the deployment of instrumentation to the use of Artificial Intelligence and their combined importance in amphibious human/non-human environments.

Join leaders from UN Water, Arcadis, NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress, Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Center for Climate Adaptation, University of Helsinki’s Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center ACCC and Pratt Institute as they share and discuss breakthrough strategies that keep communities rooted while embracing an uncertain future, that we can work together to make more hopeful. This isn’t just about surviving climate change – it’s about island ingenuity showing the world how to thrive.

The event marks the practical launch of the Governors Island Environmental Observatory, in collaboration with the Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC) at the University of Helsinki and will conclude with a networking reception hosted by the Consul-General of Finland.

3:30pm-5:00pm NY Climate Exchange, Building #309 Governors Island

Reception to follow

PRESENTERS:

Molly Bourne – Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA); Principal, RLA, FASLA

Leanne Burney – UN Water; Program Officer and Team Leader New York

Roni Deitz – Arcadis; Global Director Climate Adaptation

Peng Beng Khoo – Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD); Head of Pillar; Architecture and Sustainable Design, Center for Climate Adaptation

Yuki Miura – NYU; Assistant Professor; Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Center for Urban Science and Progress

Tuukka Petäjä and Paul Shepson – University of Helsinki and Stonybrook University; Professor, Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center and Distinguished Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

MODERATOR:

David Erdman – Pratt Institute; Associate Professor; Department of Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design; School of Architecture; Faculty Advisor and Founding Director of the Center for Climate Adaptation