SNEP
Designing Climate Change Solutions
with Participatory Planning
Here in New England, towns deal with many "wicked problems" requiring multiple solutions. Climate
change adaptation is proving to be no different. It is complicated and the terms are so varied that a
uniform solution will inevitably fail. Members of the Resilient Taunton Watershed Network (RTWN)
joined forces in a Southeast New England Program (SNEP)-funded project to respond to climate change
with diverse solutions, tailored to specific local needs. Their successes demonstrate how to turn a
limitation into an asset by tackling a seemingly intractable issue at scale.
The project had an unassuming name: Regional
Planning and Training on Municipal Tools.
Spearheaded by the Southeastern Regional
Planning & Economic Development District
(SRPEDD), the project's goal was to mainstream
nature-based water management strategies in
municipal planning—to make it easy for towns in
the Taunton River watershed to understand and
use innovative methods to respond to climate
change. The project's audience, regional and
municipal employees, are often busy dealing with
everyday problems and have limited opportunities
to learn about or design green infrastructure
solutions. A training program was needed to fill the
gap, and to accomplish the task, SRPEDD was
joined by four other RTWN members: Metropolitan
Area Planning Council, Manomet Center for
Conservation Sciences, Mass Audubon, and The
Nature Conservancy.
Water quality testing on the Taunton River (Taunton
River Watershed Alliance)
Together, the partners designed a Geographic Information Systems (GlS)-based green infrastructure
analysis, a variety of case studies, and an interactive local training program. The GIS analysis included a
green infrastructure map of the Taunton River Watershed, built from existing data to provide an
overview of features in the watershed that protect water quality, groundwater recharge, flood control,
and biodiversity. Manomet produced the maps and made them available to RTWN members and
regional and local planning authorities. The group reviewed a dozen green infrastructure case studies
and selected ten to incorporate into the training program. The selected studies showcase a diversity of
approaches used within the region. The maps and case studies were rolled into a training program, the
design of which was led by Mass Audubon. Over two half-day sessions, participants learned to evaluate
the costs and benefits associated with including green infrastructure in their planning efforts at the
local and regional scales.
Southeast New England Program
www.epa.gov/snecwrp

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SNEP
Designing Climate Change Solutions
with Participatory Planning
The interactive workshops focused on identifying local vulnerabilities in the participants' communities,
The sites they identified were then used as examples of how green infrastructure practices and policies
could be adopted as solutions, The trainings also included background information about climate
science and the links between regional and local resiliency,
RTWN's organizing brought together over
sixty attendees representing more than
twenty municipalities in the Taunton
region, as well as many federal, state, an
regional agencies. Its widespread succes:
strengthened the watershed network an
raised the bar for regional resiliency
planning, The project that started with
SNEP funding went far beyond the grant
requirements to host additional plannin
and informational sessions. RTWN was
also invited to mentor the adjoining
watersheds on the south coast of
Massachusetts, and their materials have
been used in the state's own resiliency
planning effort, the Commonwealth's
Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness
(MVP) training and planning program,
Participants discuss Taunton River resilience partnerships at a workshop hosted by the
Resilient Taunton Watershed Network. (NEIWPCC)
Planning efforts like this demonstrate the efficacy of participatory approaches to solving community
issues. Rather than promoting more conventional, top-down infrastructure designs, project partners
were able to offer alternatives that better suited the needs of participating localities. The group
attended to the idiosyncrasies of each site, learning together how a decision in one town affects
neighboring municipalities, and in doing so, built regional solutions out of many local innovations. This
project illustrates that often the best solution to a wicked problem is to involve the locals who know its
impact best and take it step by step.
Southeast New England Program
www.epa.gov/snecwrp

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