Boston Flora

Tag: climate change

  • Friday, January 19, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – New Nature for a Climate Change Future

    The American Horticultural Society invites you to hear a virtual presentation on January 19 at 2 pm Eastern with Noel Kingsbury, PhD, author and garden designer, on New Nature for a Climate Change Future.

    In a world of dramatically changing climate, garden and landscape design must conserve biodiversity as well as provide habitat for humans. Renowned author and garden designer Noel Kingsbury will guide participants in discovering models and approaches to accomplish these gardening goals. We will look at the range of nature-inspired planting created in recent years, captured in powerful images by leading photographer Claire Takacs, while examining how and why these designs and plant choices support nature.

    Noel Kingsbury is an internationally known innovator, writer, and teacher in the fields of gardening and planting design. His doctoral scholarship analyzes the long-term performance of perennials, which he continues to research and disseminate in practitioner workshops. Kingsbury has published 25 books, including New Perennial Design that launched a movement in naturalistic planting design, and four publications with Dutch designer Piet Oudolf.

    $10 for AHS members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://ahsgardening.org/lifelong-learning/new-nature-for-a-climate-change-future/

  • Friday, January 19, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – New Nature for a Climate Change Future, Online

    In a world of dramatically changing climate, garden and landscape design must conserve biodiversity as well as provide habitat for humans. Renowned author and garden designer Noel Kingsbury will guide American Horticultural Society participants in discovering models and approaches to accomplish these gardening goals. We will look at the range of nature-inspired planting created in recent years, captured in powerful images by leading photographer Claire Takacs, while examining how and why these designs and plant choices support nature. $10 for AHS members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://ahsgardening.org/lifelong-learning/new-nature-for-a-climate-change-future/

    Noel Kingsbury is an internationally known innovator, writer, and teacher in the fields of gardening and planting design. His doctoral scholarship analyzes the long-term performance of perennials, which he continues to research and disseminate in practitioner workshops. Kingsbury has published 25 books, including New Perennial Design that launched a movement in naturalistic planting design, and four publications with Dutch designer Piet Oudolf.

  • Saturday, December 9, 7:00 pm – All Good Things Must Begin

    Climate Change Theatre Action is a worldwide festival of short plays about the climate crisis, presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. The theme this year, “All Good Things Must Begin,” is inspired by the journal entry of American science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Butler was incredibly prescient, writing about extremism, racial justice, and climate change some 30 years ago. By setting intentions and visualizing a positive outcome, she defied the odds and became the author of many celebrated novels, winning each of science fiction’s highest honors. While the worlds of her novels depict the violent challenges of today’s interlocking crises, her protagonists remain devoted to thriving, to achieving survival beyond the destructive and oppressive societies they come from.

    The climate crisis demands the same kind of imaginative leap: we will create a just and regenerative world only if we dare to imagine it first, and use that vision to guide us through the difficulties. We all need to be solarpunks and envision radical pluralistic futures where nature and community thrive, and where we reject the apocalypse and embrace counterculture, post-capitalism, and decolonization.

    The LAVA Center, 324 Main Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts will present a program of short plays as staged readings, on Saturday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m. There is a $5–20 suggested donation for the plays — no one will be turned away for lack of funds. The December 9 program will be directed by JuPong Lin and will be followed by a facilitated debrief discussion led by Lin. The programs will also be available online, on demand for a short time following the live performances, details TBA.

    Climate Change Theatre Action launched in 2015, and the LAVA team has been presenting these plays, in some form, since 2017, years before The LAVA Center was born! Greening Greenfield (https://greeninggreenfieldma.org/ ) has been a supporter of this programming since the beginning, and this year the program is also funded in part by Mass Humanities (https://masshumanities.org/ ).

  • Tuesday, August 15, 1:00 pm – Climate Change and the Natural Environment

    The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club will hold its Annual Meeting at The Old Mill in West Tisbury on Tuesday, August 15 at 1 pm. The speaker will be Liz Durkee of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. She will present a program on Climate Change and the Natural Environment. Climate change is stressing the natural environment, from coastal erosion to biodiversity loss. The best
    way to adapt is to work with nature, not against it. We’ll look at the impacts, what’s being done to address climate change, and investigate positive actions you can take to help make the Island as climate change resilient as possible.

    Liz hopes attendees will gain an understanding of how climate change is affecting the island’s natural environment and inspiration to take positive action to address the impacts. 

    Liz is the climate change planner at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. She spent summer vacations on the Island growing up and moved here full-time in 1983. She was the conservation agent for the Town of Oak Bluffs for twenty-two years before being hired as the Commission’s first climate change planner in 2021. As the conservation agent she became concerned about sea level rise and that led her to months of off-duty research to understand how climate change would specifically affect the Vineyard. The result
    was 9 fifteen-part series in the Vineyard Gazette way back in 2011, called Climate Change on Martha’s Vineyard. Last year the Commission released the Island’s first Climate Action Plan, The Vineyard Way: Connected to Our Past, Committed to Our Future.   https://thevineyardway.org/plan-development​

    FREE to MVGC Members / Open to non-members @ $10.00 pp

  • Monday, August 7, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Climate Change and Native Plants, Online

    Native Plant Trust will sponsor a virtual class on August 7 from 6 – 7 pm.

    Climate change is a multifaceted challenge with numerous—and sometimes unexpected—contributing factors. To create solutions on a personal and manageable scale, we need to turn to the science.

    This class will cover a brief history of climate change and address carbon and hydrological cycles, the earth’s heating and cooling systems, and the importance of wise landscape design, construction, and agriculture to mitigate climate change. We will also discuss the role of native plants in the climate change conversation.

    Instructor: Trevor Smith is a landscape designer in the Boston area. Trevor specializes in green stormwater infrastructure, such as permeable pavers and rain gardens, as well as in landscapes designed to maximize Earth’s systems while balancing them with the needs and desires of her human inhabitants. He is passionate about the natural world which inspires his commitment to ecological principles and practices and devoted to creating beautiful landscapes that provide clients with an oasis to reconnect with the natural world. Mr. Smith holds several landscape certifications, including MCH, NOFA AOLCP, LEEDGA, and IPCI, and he is also a past President of the Ecological Landscape Alliance and a current Trustee.

    Tickets: $15 Members  –  $18 Non-Members Click Here to register.

  • Thursday & Friday, November 2 & 3 – Historic New England Summit 2023, Live and Online – Save the Date

    New England’s largest conference about our collective roles in creating livable and resilient communities will take place November 2 and 3 at the VETS, Providence, Rhode Island, and livestream. The annual Historic New England Summit presents two days of exciting conversations that explore how 21st-century challenges and opportunities are transforming the fields of historic preservation, architecture, urban planning, conservation, arts and culture, museum studies, collections management, public history, and education. The program includes keynote presentations by regional and national leaders, panel discussions, provocations, networking opportunities, and more.

    The 2023 Historic New England Summit is your opportunity to gain inspiration from and connect with cutting-edge thought leaders in preservation, arts and culture, social history, education, advocacy, and municipal government. Join the continuing conversation on some of today’s most complex and pressing challenges in these fields and beyond. Share your ideas, collaborate on solutions, and discover new perspectives to strengthen the livability and vitality of our communities.

    One of this year’s themes is Sustainability and Climate Change. What is the role of cultural and preservation organizations in driving climate action? What strategies and commitments are essential to achieving net-zero and zero-waste sustainability targets? What innovative strategies are being deployed to protect collections from pervasive, destructive pests?

    On the National Register of Historic Places, The VETS is ideally located in downtown Providence on the revitalized Avenue of the Arts across from the Rhode Island State House. It is acclaimed for its unique combination of size and intimacy. The theater celebrates flawless acoustics, a breathtaking proscenium stage, and exquisite interior.

    Complete details and registration may be found at https://summit.historicnewengland.org/register/ Early bird pricing is available through July 16. Online 2-Day member price $55, nonmember $68. After July 17, $90 & $110.

  • Friday, June 30, 6:30 pm – Dorchester Weather: A Play About Climate and Change

    Dorchester Weather is an original play about climate and change, led by Dorchester resident, theater artist and educator Jaronzie Harris, in partnership with the Environment Department of the City of Boston. It is the culmination of a year long process that engages Dorchester residents in an exploration of environmental issues that are disproportionately impacting the community. There will be food, music, and interactive activities. Come share your thoughts and ideas on June 30 at 6:30 pm, on the corner of Norfolk and Woodrow, and dive deep into the implications of climate change in Dorchester. Admission is free. Learn more and register today!

  • Thursday, June 8, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Eastern – You are Here: Steve Curwood, Live and Online

    Executive Producer and host of NPR’s “Living on Earth” Steve Curwood will converse on June 8 with Boston Public Library President David Leonard as part of the 2023 Lowell Lecture Series You are Here: Climate Change and What’s Next. Their 60-75 minute conversation will followed by an audience Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences.

    Steve Curwood is the executive producer and host of “Living on Earth.” He created the first pilot of “Living on Earth” in 1990 and the show has run continuously since April 1991. “Living on Earth” is currently aired on more than 250 National Public Radio/Public Radio International affiliates and XM/Sirius Satellite Radio.

    This lecture is part of the BPL Lowell Lecture Series “You Are Here” on Climate Change and what’s next and produced by GBH Forum Network.

    This event will begin at 6pm ET in the Abbey Room at the Boston Public Library, 230 Dartmouth Street in Boston. Free. For tickets and registration, visit www.wgbh.org.

  • Tuesday, September 20, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Boston Groundwater Trust Forum

    The Boston Groundwater Trust is sponsoring a public forum on September 20 from 5:30 – 7:30 on How Climate Change May Threaten the Foundations of Boston. The event will take place at the Boston Public Library at Copley Square in Rabb Hall. Free. For more information on the Boston Groundwater Trust: https://www.bostongroundwater.org

  • Through February 5, 2023 – Down to the Bone: Edward Koren and Stephen Gorman

    Working independently, award-winning nature photographer Stephen Gorman and beloved New Yorker artist Edward Koren respond to the consequences of destabilizing our natural environment and speak to their alarm about the global climate crisis. The artists have come together to express their two very different — but mutually reinforcing — visions. The exhibition centers on the uncanny synergy between Gorman’s wildlife and landscape photographs, and Koren’s drawings, lithographs, and etchings.

    Gorman’s photographs in this exhibit were created in Kaktovik, Alaska – an Inupiat village in the embattled Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, sitting directly in the political, cultural, and environmental crosshairs of the Anthropocene. The polar bears in Gorman’s images are climate refugees facing extinction as the arctic sea ice they depend on for survival retreats at a rapid rate.

    In creating the works in this Peabody Essex Museum exhibition, on view through February 5, Koren has described himself as a dramatist of the Anthropocene. His bemused and bewildered creatures, caught between fear and acceptance, occupy landscapes in which human culture has been fragmented and reduced to ruins. His hapless creatures suggest a profound realization of what is unraveling at their feet and speak to the folly of not caring for the environment that sustains us all. For complete details visit www.pem.org Down to the Bone: Edward Koren and Stephen Gorman is presented as part of PEM’s Climate + Environment Initiative and is made possible by the generosity of Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Creighton family, Susan and Appy Chandler, Peter and Sandra Lawrence and individuals who support the Exhibition Incubation Fund: Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, Kate and Ford O’Neil, and Henry and Callie Brauer. We also recognize the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.