Give Your Favorite TWO RIVERS Location a “Shout Out” in the #MAPWHATMATTERS Initiative!

A team of resiliency experts, led by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the Two Rivers Council of Mayors, will be spending the next few weeks speaking with residents and visitors of the Two Rivers communities about their favorite places.

As part of the three-year New Jersey Fostering Regional Adaptation through Municipal Economic Scenarios (NJ FRAMES) project, the Two Rivers, One Future campaign will be collecting and mapping the most important, most valued local resources and places in the Two Rivers region using the hashtag #MapWhatMatters.

The goal of the project is to help the Two Rivers region prepare for and respond to coastal hazards and the risk of flooding through regional resiliency planning. A key component of the resiliency planning process is the Two Rivers, One Future outreach campaign, which launched in early 2017 with an open house kick-off event at the Two Rivers Theater in downtown Red Bank.

This summer, Two Rivers, One Future is back to hear from residents and visitors about what places are special, important, critical (or just plain fun!) in their communities. While some locations might seem obviously important – schools, hospitals, police departments – they are also looking for those less obvious, but equally important community hotspots – a favorite coffee shop, the community center that offers classes for seniorS or children, the 24-hour pharmacy, or even the best little league baseball field! Any place that is important to the community, residents, business, or visitors is a place that #Matters.

There are several ways to participate in the Two Rivers, One Future #MapWhatMatters campaign:

• Use the interactive, online mapping website at www.TwoRiversOneFuture.nj.gov to drop pins at your favorite locations. Then use the comment field on the dropped pin to describe why this place matters.
• Tweet with the hashtags #MapWhatMatters and #TwoRiversOneFuture and include photos, websites, names, or locations of the places that matter to you, along with a reason why. You can also post to Instagram using the same hashtags!
• Visit the Two Rivers, One Future #MapWhatMatters booth at a variety of public festivals, markets and locations throughout the Two River region in August. Find a schedule of events at www.TwoRiversOneFuture.nj.gov

NJ FRAMES is one of just a handful of resilience planning grants and projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Additional information can be found at the project website: www.TwoRiversOneFuture.nj.gov. Project partners include NJDEP’s Coastal Management Program (CMP) with the Louis Berger Group, the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Rutgers Climate Institute, and Oceanport Borough representing the Two Rivers Council of Mayors.

Please tag any social media announcement with #TwoRiversOneFuture and #MapWhatMatters