UConn climate conference focuses on building resilience across New England

A recent Earth Week conference was held at the University of Connecticut School of Law, organized and led entirely by law students.

The event, titled “The Path Forward: Regional Strategies for Climate Resilience,” brought together students, scientists, and policymakers to discuss how states can work together to prepare for stronger storms, flooding, and other climate-related challenges facing the Northeast.

“The goal was to promote resiliency to climate change in New England,” organizer and second‑year UConn Law student Maggie Bielaczyc said.

Bielaczyc spent nearly a year planning the conference and said collaboration across state lines is essential.

“In order to build strong climate resilience, states have to work together with each other to build climate-resilient strategies,” she said. “I hope people leave empowered to go back to their towns and start sharing these ideas with their local communities.”

Panel discussions focused on issues already impacting the region, including frequent flooding, grid reliability, and increasingly intense storms. The goal was to examine how municipalities can adapt using regional resilience strategies as a roadmap for the future.

UConn professor and keynote speaker Robert Thorson said resiliency efforts must also include difficult conversations about land use, especially along the shoreline.

“Yes, this is about resilience, and that’s wonderful,” Thorson said. “But at some point, we have to ask when we change our shoreline policy from ‘shore up’ to ‘shore back.’”

Thorson expressed concern that many properties are built with too much exposure to rising seas and extreme weather.

“Another form of resilience is having the mental flexibility to site or regulate properties in areas that face growing storm and sea-level risks,” he said.

Students also heard from climate scientists about the latest data and projections, emphasizing the importance of long‑term planning.

“If you’re going to expend money to move things or build things, you want them to be useful 50 years from now, at least,” said Jim O’Donnell, executive director of CIRCA.

The conference concluded with a collaborative workshop in which participants worked on a report highlighting resiliency projects across the Northeast. That report will be submitted to the National Science Foundation to help guide future climate research and planning.