Friday, March 4, 12noon-1pm, this on-line event requires advance registration

Join us on March 4, 2022, to welcome Vivek Shandas. This will be the second online-only event for the “Choosing Our Climate Legacy: Priorities for a More Equitable and Resilient Ohio” series.

Our ability to adapt to a changing climate increasingly relies on the integration of social and institutional systems with individual responses. Despite laudable plans, programs, and policies, municipal attempts to advance climate adaptation measures often overlook historic processes of divestment, erasure, and marginalization, which, without direct acknowledgment and redress, can limit our capacity to safeguard regional communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems.

This presentation will examine the distributional effects of climate change — specifically urban heat — and presents an analysis of 108 cities and the role of one national policy (e.g. redlining) in amplifying impacts based on discriminatory policies. As part of addressing the legacies of this work, this presentation will also offer an approach that engages communities in community-based participatory climate science that advances cross-sectoral projects, while expanding options for interventions, and grounding the work at hyperlocal scales. By touching on case studies that contextualize adaptation strategies, we identify promising directions for reducing disproportionate exposure across urban neighborhoods.

Vivek Shandas is a Professor of Climate Transformation and Director of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab (SUPR Lab) at Portland State University. Working as an interdisciplinary scholar, Professor Shandas examines the assumptions that guide decisions about the built environment and uses spatial analytical tools and policy evaluations as a means for identifying socially inequitable outcomes in the era of climate destabilization. He has published over 100 publications, four books, and serves as a consultant and technical advisor to public, private, and non-profit organizations. His professional accomplishments have been featured in the NYTimes, National Geographic, Scientific American, Times of India, Le Monde, Volkskrant, CNN, and other media outlets. During his spare time, Professor Shandas serves as Chair of the City of Portland’s Urban Forestry Commission and revels in the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest.

RSVP for this event by using this link.

Hosted by CURA [Center for Urban and Regional Analysis] at The Ohio State University.