The American Library Association declared climate change as the “grandest challenge of our generation.” As libraries grapple with the changing needs of communities in the face of climate change there is work to be done to ensure we are contributing to community resilience in new ways. This webinar will help libraries focus on not only facility issues to ensure libraries are energy-secure and comfortable in extreme weather but to also think through how libraries serve as a community hub for education and action projects that bring neighbors together to problem-solve in the face of the impacts of climate change.

Participants will:

1. gain an understanding of what climate resilience is, and how it relates to the role libraries can play in their communities

2. learn how to develop a network of potential community partners to jointly identify community-based climate resilience projects to implement

3. begin to plan for the implementation of at least one climate resilience project at their library or in their community.

About the presenter:

Cynthia Nikitin has led  numerous large-scale multi-sectoral place-based community-led projects during her twenty eight years with Project for Public Spaces (pps.org) and since. She has facilitated over one hundred placemaking training workshops and seminars around the world. Cynthia’s technical expertise stretches from the development of downtown master plans to the creation of corridor-wide transportation and land use strategies, and development of creative placemaking initiatives to create safer and healthier cities and upgrade informal settlements in the developing world.

This program is presented in partnership with the Mid-Hudson Library System and Sustainable Hudson Valley. The session will be recorded. Click here to view the RCLS code of conduct.