How can Vineyarders have a stronger and more sustainable relationship with the land? (Hint: Resilient roads, regenerative agriculture, native plant species in your backyard.)
On Sunday, May 19, from noon to 4 pm, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s 2024 Climate Action Fair (at the Ag Hall) will provide the most up-to-date and actionable answers, and materials to take home. This year, the MVC is offering materials in Brazilian Portuguese as well.
The Climate Action Fair was created after Island planners, local government officials, and other members of the community got together to create the Island Climate Action Plan, also known as “The Vineyard Way.” It outlines possible solutions to impending environmental and economic challenges. Island organizations working in the climate change sphere will be set up in the main hall with table displays and hands-on demonstrations based on the themes of the plan. These include land use, natural resources, and biodiversity; transportation, infrastructure, and waste; public health and safety; food security; and economic resilience.
This year, the MVC is using grant funding from the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program to explore some of the barriers to resilient landscaping, and provide the public with access to essential resources. The project has enabled the commission to host ongoing focus groups with landscapers, landscape architects, and nursery owners that will be the basis for broad community outreach.
Similarly to last year’s Down and Dirty Waste Panel, a number of experts will discuss and answer questions about why the resilient landscaping project was created, and how the commission is using grant funding to bring the entire Island into the conversation. Another panel at the fair will revolve around wildfire dangers and how to prevent them.
MVC Climate Change Coordinator Liz Durkee said one of the project’s core goals is to encourage people to use more native species in their yards and gardens, and start to rethink what the ideal Vineyard lawn looks like. “Of course, at the CAF, ‘resilient landscaping’ will also focus on all the other landscapes,” Durkee said. “The human, economic, and renewable energy ones, for instance.”
For more info in the coming weeks visit thevineyardway.org. Come by and see us at the Bluedot Living table at the fair, and look for more coverage about the topics presented there in future newsletters and magazines.
