Innovations in Climate Resilience Conference...I'll see you in Washington, D.C.!
Blog by Doug Parsons
This is the inaugural “Adapters Blog”! I hope you enjoy it!
I’m planning to share some behind the scenes info from the podcast but also my thoughts on adaptation issues in the news or that I just happen to come across! For this first blog, I wanted to highlight the upcoming Innovations in Climate Resilience Conference hosted by Battelle. I’ll be attending this event in person in Washington D.C. April 22-24th. Battlelle and America Adapts started a partnership just before ICR23 in Columbus, Ohio in the spring of 2023. I'm excited to see the move to Washington, D.C., since it will attract more government and private sector types. You can still register and maybe I’ll see you there! They’ve recruited an all-star line up of speakers: keynote speaker Ali Zaidi, National Climate Advisor to the President will be there. Also speaking: Sherri Goodman, Katie MacDonald, Monika Serrano, John Conger, Rachel Jacobson, Brendan Owen and many more. My challenge at these conferences is getting around to see all the speakers, especially when sessions are concurrent! I'll also be wandering the halls, as usual, interviewing people for an upcoming podcast highlighting ICR24. So if you can’t make it in person, you’ll soon hear from some of the attendees and from some of the main speakers. "I did the same last year for ICR23 (you can listen here!).
The conference has three tracks, mitigation, sustainability and yes, my favorite, adaptation.
There are some excellent sessions and I’m planning to hover around the resilience sessions hoping to meet those attending the sessions and get their perspective on what was covered.
There aren’t a lot of adaptation conferences and it’s been encouraging to see Battelle step up in this space. There has been some confusion on what is carbon mitigation and is it something different than adaptation (a resounding yes!). With the three tracks, hopefully there will be connecting between those attending from the three different tracks. I think we in the adaptation sector need to step it up and explain what adaptation and resilience planning is and how it differs (and compliments) sustainability and mitigation. The ICRs have incredible poster sessions (not just the posters…food is top notch!) and it’s a great chance to connect between those different sectors.
Another perk is how I’ve been promoting ICR24 on the podcast.
I”ll hear from listeners who are planning to attend. Geoffroy Bablon reached out to me to explain he’s been a listener and is planning to attend ICR24. We did a pre conference zoom just to learn more about each other’s work. Geoffry does venture investing and is looking to transition into that space, but focusing on climate adaptation. That is music to my ears, hearing from people like Geoffry who see these big opportunities in adaptation. And we’ll get to meet in person!
