A coastal community nestled between the Narragansett and Mount Hope Bays---Warren, RI---is facing extreme consequences due to sea level rise. Flooding is happening more frequently every year, and the city has ambitious plans for managed retreat. Market Street, located in the heart of the city, is one of the lowest points of Warren, and therefore at some of the highest risk for flooding. The city has proposed a plan called "Market to Metacom," which would move residents from Market Street to the Metacom area, which is located about 1.5 miles south of Market Street.

Further, the city has released its "Comprehensive Plan," a 177 page long report that outlines the ways in which Warren is planning to adapt, build and change in the coming years. This report goes over things like housing, transportation, land use, and climate change impacts. The Market to Metacom plan served as a resource for which much of the Comprehensive Plan drew from. 

However, many residents of Warren are confused about these proposed plans. Many others have no idea they even exist. A select few have dug into the details; but even so, taking time to read a 177 page long report is not something the average person finds time for. 

Over the summer, I worked with Kate Schapira to make these plans more accessible. Every Monday, from 3-6pm, we drove over from Providence to Warren and set up a booth on the East Bay Bike Path by the Del's. We set up signs and wrote messages on the bike path to give people insight into why we were there. We handed out flooding resources and had conversations with anyone who took the time to talk to us, and through that heard about numerous people's flooding stories. 

Along with hearing people's stories, we also sought to connect neighbors with one another. The idea being that in times of need, neighbors can show up for one another in ways that a city cannot. In order to do this, we invited people to sign up to come to the Climate Working Group (CWG) meetings that the Health Equity Zone (HEZ) of Warren host every last Tuesday of the month. These meetings, which I also attended this summer, are attended by community members and are open to the public. I noticed throughout the summer just how much the members of this group care for and look out for one another. It's a space where people show up when others ask them to. 

A prominent member of the CWG, Sally Turner, director of The Collaborative---a non-profit arts organization in Warren---also had her hands in another project: a documentary film. This film was the idea and product of high school students in Warren, some of whom had taken a film class, and others who had been a part of the Environmental Club. The film outlines how climate change is impacting Warren, with The Comprehensive Plan being the guide of the film. The hope is that with this, more people will have an idea of what The Comprehensive Plan is, and therefore how it might impact them and their futures. While filming is still ongoing, the goal is to have screenings later this year sometime. If you would like to have updates on when these screenings will happen, feel free to email me at anna_bachenberg@brown.edu. 

Perhaps what I'm taking away the most through this work is how important relationship building is. Establishing trusting relationships with the community you're working with is what you must lead with. Educating yourself on the work that's already been done is also extremely important. For me, this looked like reading Warren's proposed plans, housing report, and researching into city council matters and previous city planners of Warren. The more you put in, the more you get out, and the more meaningful and fulfilling the work is. I'm so grateful to have gotten the chance to work with Warren, and I'm so excited to continue my work with them this semester, and in the future.