ORONO, Maine – The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk on how the Island Institute collaborates with coastal communities to build resilience on Monday, Feb. 28 from 3–4 p.m.
The Island Institute works alongside Maine’s island and coastal leaders to build community resilience and share solutions for addressing the coast’s most critical issues. In this talk, Suzanne MacDonald, chief community development officer with the institute, will provide examples of the innovation unlocked by the institute’s place-based, relationship-driven approach in a time of increasingly rapid change. She will also discuss the internal systems and structures that they have developed to ensure responsiveness to communities and their emergent needs.
MacDonald oversees strategy development for the institute’s interconnected economic, social and climate resilience programs. She has been a catalyst and leader with several national and global networks focused on island sustainability and currently serves as chair of the Efficiency Maine Trust Board of Directors, on various groups of the Maine Climate Council, and on the steering committee of the Climate Strong Islands Network.
All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series are free and will be offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall on the UMaine campus in Orono. Registration is required to attend remotely via Zoom; to register and receive connection information, see the event webpage at https://umaine.edu/mitchellcenter/event/talk-navigating-change-strategies-and-structures-to-increase-the-resilience-of-the-coast-of-maine/.
Please note that face coverings are required for all persons – students, staff, faculty, visitors, and others – when indoors at a University of Maine System facility. For the latest health and safety guidance, please see umaine.edu/return.
Updates for this event will be posted to the event webpage. To request reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or hallsworth@maine.edu.