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Arup and Wharf District Council publish guidance to accelerate local resilience efforts through community-led projects
New handbook provides guidance based on lessons learned from the development of uniquely successful resiliency plan
Last updated: 13th May 2025
Arup and the Wharf District Council in Boston released today the Neighborhood Resiliency Project Handbook, which provides guidance on how to develop and execute community-led projects to enhance neighborhood flood resilience. The handbook summarizes key insights and lessons learned from the development of the Wharf District Council’s 2023 Climate Resiliency Plan, which represents a uniquely successful exercise in generating a shared vision amongst stakeholders and community members on a district-wide protection and resiliency plan.
The handbook seeks to support and foster the propagation of similar community-led approaches, encouraging local organizations, non-profits, and citizens to accelerate and complement broader efforts to make neighborhoods and communities more resilient.
Derek Anderson, Associate at Arup, said: “By building unanimous consensus for flood resiliency measures amongst such a wide range of stakeholders, we achieved something really special with the resiliency plan back in 2023. It’s something that hasn’t been done before in Boston and possibly in the country. When we realized other communities have the potential to begin leading similar initiatives to protect and enhance their neighborhoods, we also understood it was our responsibility to share everything we learned along the way to set them up for success.”
Marc Margulies, President at Wharf District Council, said: "Boston is one of the most vulnerable cities when it comes to flooding, but we view that as an opportunity to be the ones to develop the solutions to these new challenges. We’ve made really wonderful progress, and we’re excited to take a moment to share what we’ve learned while we keep pushing ahead in imagining and building a safer, more vibrant future for our city."
The handbook provides a range of guidance for practices such as identifying when and where community-led flood resilience projects will be most productive, obtaining and utilizing funding through non-profit structures, and engaging stakeholders to build consensus around engineering measures and interventions that protect properties and community assets from flooding.
The development of the 2023 plan demonstrated that a community-led approach to flood resilience projects brings several benefits that may not otherwise be as accessible through a conventional city or state-led approach. For example, the community-led approach enabled open dialogue with private property owners during the stakeholder engagement process and access to fundraising mechanisms to support the capital expenses necessary to design and implement engineered interventions to increase resilience to floods.
Importantly, these projects can happen in conjunction and in parallel with city, state, and federal efforts, both alleviating the burden on governments while empowering communities to enact meaningful, local change to protect current and future residents.
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