Salem Climate Change 2-Day Workshop To Go Virtual Next Week

SALEM, MA — The two-day "Keeping History Above Water" workshop in Salem to raise awareness and spur action on the impact of climate change on historic coastal cities will be a virtual summit next week.

The city said on Wednesday that the workshop on Sept. 13 and Sept. 14 will be streamed live out of caution amid the coronavirus crisis. Those livestreams can be found here free of charge.

Salem Preservation Partners and the city are combining with Keeping History Above Water, a national effort of the Newport Rhode Island Restoration Foundation, on the workshop to address how climate change impacts historic coastal communities.

The workshop will be streamed out of the Peabody Essex Museum's Morse Auditorium.

The workshop will focus on climate change's effects on Salem's historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods.

Speakers will include representatives from the Peabody Esses Museum, Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, N.H., Boston's Climate Change & Environmental Planning Department, Salem State University, Salem Sound Coastwatch and Salem officials.

Erin Minnigan, the Director of Preservation at the Preservation Society of Charleston, South Carolina, is the keynote speaker.

Salem Preservation Partners is a group of historic preservation organizations that discuss issues and activities pertinent to the community. The Partners include the Pickering House, the Peabody Essex Museum, the House of the Seven Gables, Salem Sound Coastwatch, Historic New England, the National Park Service, Historic Salem Inc., Hamilton Hall, the Salem Athenaeum, Destination Salem and Friends of Greenlawn Cemetery.

The workshop will discuss the risks of sea level rise and what can be done to protect historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods. The events are intended to provide a starting point for "communities to begin planning for the complex issues of climate change and historic preservation."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)