Author: Mary DeStefano
On March 2nd Dr. Victoria Chanse, Associate Professor in the Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Departments at the University of Maryland, presented her research about community-based approaches to addressing storm water runoff and sea level rise, at the Workshop for Society and the Environment.
Dr. Chanse’s research explores the role of the designer and planner in developing community-based approaches, as well as different methods to encourage public involvement in seeking solutions to storm-water management and sea level rise. She also looks for examples where cross-disciplinary collaborations are occurring and new approaches are being developed by combining the approaches of designers, community members, and social scientists.
Dr. Chanse’s research explores the role of the designer and planner in developing community-based approaches, as well as different methods to encourage public involvement in seeking solutions to storm-water management and sea level rise. She also looks for examples where cross-disciplinary collaborations are occurring and new approaches are being developed by combining the approaches of designers, community members, and social scientists.
Dr. Chanse presented an example of her work on community engagement around sea level rise in Maryland. Sea level rise for Maryland’s coast is estimated to be 1.4 feet by 2050 and 3.7 feet by 2100. Although this will have devastating effects on the physical and natural environment, it will also have profound social consequences, impacting a number of local communities. Through her work, Dr. Chanse developed a variety of approaches to addressing the social components of local climate change, such as developing visualization approaches and communication and working directly with stakeholders and communities to better understand the unique impacts that each community anticipated facing. After holding a number of stakeholder meetings and workshops with local community members, it was determined that the primary concerns were about roads near homes and how the rising water made them unusable. The impact of the rising water on septic systems, and ultimately the homeowners’ property values, were also of great concern to community members.
The recommendations that came out of these meetings were to develop a series of scenarios of adaptations responses (whether to rebuild and defend the land in certain places, or to retreat in others), to engage a cross-disciplinary group to come up with a range of solutions, and to always keep in mind time frames and issues of scale when considering designing, planning, and building.
Storm water runoff and sea level rise are very serious threats and will require a creative and collaborative approach to mitigate and manage their effects. For more information about the work that Dr. Chanse is doing please see her website at https://www.psla.umd.edu/people/dr-victoria-chanse .
The recommendations that came out of these meetings were to develop a series of scenarios of adaptations responses (whether to rebuild and defend the land in certain places, or to retreat in others), to engage a cross-disciplinary group to come up with a range of solutions, and to always keep in mind time frames and issues of scale when considering designing, planning, and building.
Storm water runoff and sea level rise are very serious threats and will require a creative and collaborative approach to mitigate and manage their effects. For more information about the work that Dr. Chanse is doing please see her website at https://www.psla.umd.edu/people/dr-victoria-chanse .
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