Climate and Coastal Resilience Workforce Alliance
Creating a climate-ready city by creating a climate-ready workforce. Stay tuned for training and employment opportunities!
The Greater Boston Climate and Coastal Resilience Workforce Alliance will train and place Boston residents into over 1,200 jobs that enhance the city's climate and coastal resilience over four years.
Climate and Coastal Resilience in Boston
Boston is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. According to the 2016 Climate Ready Boston Report, by the 2070s annualized losses from coastal and riverine flooding could amount to $1.4 billion. As the economic engine for the Greater Boston region with 47 miles of low-lying coastline, a concentration of regionally significant economic centers and critical infrastructure, and a growing coastal population, the impacts of coastal flooding affect the entire region. To reach our climate goals, the public, private, and institutional sectors must make unprecedented investments that will require a larger, more diverse workforce.
Since the 2016 Climate Ready Boston report, the City of Boston has worked with community partners to complete coastal resilience solutions plans for all 47 miles of Boston’s coastline, presenting district-scale and nature-based solutions to reduce coastal flood risk while simultaneously improving connectivity along and access to the waterfront, enhancing public open space and recreation, and restoring natural ecosystems. In addition, Mayor Michelle Wu established the Green New Deal as a framework for tackling the climate crisis in Boston — with policies that address economic, social, and racial inequities, while advancing health, livability, and justice throughout our neighborhoods for all Boston residents. Through a series of ambitious policies and citywide investments, Boston has been steadily advancing towards its climate and equity objectives, striving to achieve carbon neutrality in our built environment, promote economic vitality, and enhance climate resilience across the City for all our residents.
A Generational Investment in Boston's Climate Ready Workforce
The City of Boston was awarded $9.8 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to develop the workforce needed to enhance climate and coastal resilience across Boston neighborhoods. The grant comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate-Ready Workforce initiative and will assist in developing training programs that build in-demand and emerging climate resilience skills, offer wraparound services to ensure workers' success, and place workers in good jobs and career pathways. The Office of Workforce Development (OWD), under the leadership of the Worker Empowerment Cabinet (WE) and in collaboration with the Environment, Energy, and Open Space Cabinet (EEOS), Green New Deal Office, and the Office of Green Infrastructure applied for the grant.
About the Alliance
The Greater Boston Climate and Coastal Resilience Workforce Alliance is an equity-based initiative that will advance new sectoral workforce development systems aligned with achieving the objectives of a green economy and growth. The Alliance brings together 30+ key stakeholders, including employers, training providers, community engagement partners, climate policy practitioners, adult basic education programs, and wraparound service agencies to develop and implement training pathways aimed at filling over 1,200 committed jobs in coastal and climate resilience occupations over four years. Workers trained through the grant will be placed in jobs that help advance coastal resiliency strategies, especially in the municipal and public sector including:
- Installation of green infrastructure and other nature-based solutions which are key strategies for flood protection and water quality.
- Working to ensure our water and wastewater systems are reliable.
- Building critical flood and coastal protection infrastructure.
- Strengthening the City's emergency preparedness and response capabilities.
- Climate and coastal resilience community education and outreach.
