FREE Climate Change Workshops: Using Nature to Adapt to Climate Change Issues
Seeking Public Input in Ashburnham, Groton, Fitchburg, Leominster, and Pepperell
View a short video about this project. (3:13 min.)
The NRWA is seeking citizen input in the communities of Ashburnham, Fitchburg, Groton, Leominster, and Pepperell as part of our Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) in these five towns/cities. If you are a resident of one of these communities, are you concerned about, or would like to learn more about, the impacts of climate change in your town/city? Are you interested in sharing your thoughts on ways to help our neighborhoods deal with issues like higher temperatures, heavy rains and flooding, or an increase in public parks and greenspaces?
The NRWA invites residents and community members to participate in our Community Climate Change Workshops taking place in January and early February. There are two workshops in each community, one in person and one on Zoom. Content for each meeting is slightly different- see details below. Feel free to register for either or for both. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. All are welcome!
View flyers in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole that can be shared with others in your community.
Please register online today using the link for your individual town/city.
In-Person Meetings
At these in-person meetings, the concept of Nature-based Solutions will be described, you will have a chance to give input on specific climate and environmental issues, ideas, and places in your community that could be good sites for using Nature-based Solutions to address these issues.
Ashburnham: Wednesday Jan. 31 from 5:30 to7:30 pm at the Ashburnham Town Hall Auditorium, 32 Main Street in Ashburnham. Register now.
Groton: Thursday Feb. 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the NRWA River Resource Center, 592 Main Street in Groton. Register now.
Leominster: Monday Feb. 5 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Leominster City Hall Auditorium, 25 West Street in Leominster. Register now.
Zoom Meetings
At these meetings, we'll talk about the sites suggested for Nature-based Solutions from the first meeting and identify specific sites in your community to include in our plan. Registration is not required, but appreciated.
The Zoom link for all of these meetings will be: https://bscgroup.zoom.us/j/8225442039 Meeting ID: 822 544 2039.
Leominster: Monday Feb. 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm on Zoom. Register now.
Ashburnham, Groton, & Pepperell: Tuesday Feb. 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm on Zoom. Ashburnham register now. Groton register now. Pepperell register now.
Fitchburg: Thursday Feb. 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm on Zoom. Register now.
Join these workshops to share your climate concerns and to learn about Nature-based Solutions – the ways we can use nature to help adapt to a changing climate. These solutions can include parks and greenspace, rain gardens, and more. After a short presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to share their concerns and ideas through dynamic focus-group activities. Input gathered from this workshop will inform the MVP project partners of your thoughts surrounding climate change, to be used in climate resilience planning projects.
These workshops are part of the Nashua River Watershed-wide Nature-based Solutions Project, funded through an MVP (Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness) Action Grant, that includes the communities of Fitchburg, Leominster, Groton, Ashburnham, and Pepperell. The goal of this project is to build climate resilience within these communities through nature-based solution planning. Learn more about this project grant.
MVP grants are awarded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration, to support community-driven climate resilience planning and action projects with 99% of the Commonwealth’s municipalities currently participating. This project is one of 79 state-wide projects to have received action grant funding in the latest round of applications.
For questions, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., NRWA Conservation and Climate Resilience Specialist.
We hope to hear your voice at this important conversation about climate change. Register today, and please help spread the word in these five communities. Thank you!
