Coastal Connections: Teens take on Sinking Cities

From sea walls to dikes and polders to high-tide gates, these are some of the solutions that many municipalities around the world are using to mitigate the consequences of sea-level rise.

Are these possible solutions for Boston?

A dozen Berkshire high school students and two teachers explored this question as they journeyed to Italy in March 2018. During the first part of the trip, the group explored Venice via alleys, bridges and canals and ventured to the site of Project MOSE to learn about the history, development, and maintenance of their innovative system of coastal gates. The teens then worked with Robert Karn and Gail Whitney Karn of the Center for Sustainable Urbanism to consider ways in which the Venetian solution might be applicable to other cities at risk such as Boston. This presentation will reveal the groups’ conclusions about this complicated issue and demonstrate their ideas for a 21st-century approach that engages a multi-generational audience in the quest to save the world’s sinking cities.

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