Chris Reed, founding director of Stoss Landscape Urbanism and professor in the practice of landscape architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, calls for increased partnerships from a range of sectors in order to prepare the region for a changing climate:
We should not look to the private sector to lead the way — water does not adhere to private property boundaries when it floods a coastline. This is a collective issue that must be met collectively, with multiple levels of coordination between many public and private entities and interests. Therefore, we should leverage the partnerships that are already in place for the Climate Ready neighborhood planning initiatives, build on the good work led by the City’s Office of Environment, Energy and Open Space, and expedite design, engineering, and regulatory approval processes to get something in the ground, to test these solutions, and to build momentum for taking on these challenges all around the harbor.