“Bite-Sized Preservation: Climate Justice and Preservation” – Providence Symposium: Whose Places Matter (And Why?)

On Thursday, November 19, we’ll present Bite-Sized Preservation: Climate Justice and Preservation, a look at where environmentalism and historic preservation intersect. Providence attracted national attention with the City’s release of a climate justice plan in fall 2019. Our Director of Preservation, Rachel Robinson, will speak with Leah Bamberger, the City of Providence’s Director of Sustainability, to learn how the plan is unfolding in its first year and how preservationists can be allies in this work. Monica Huertas, a resident of South Providence and member of the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee that informed the creation of the plan, will also share her thoughts.

Featuring Leah Bamberger, Director of Sustainability, City of Providence and Monica Huertas, member of the Racial Equity and Justice Committee

All registrants will receive a Zoom invitation with a meeting code and password before the event. Please contact us with any questions or for assistance with the Zoom app.

Join us via Zoom on November 19 for a special symposium edition of Bite-Sized Preservation. Same format, just as much preservation as fits in a lunch hour.

Click here for more information about the Providence Symposium events. The link below is to register for this session.

Whose Places Matter (And Why?)

The modern historic preservation movement came of age in the era of redlining, urban renewal, and fierce debate about the future of our cities. This crucible of “progress” resulted in more deeply entrenched racial, economic, and philosophical divides and a preservation practice that protected the interests of the privileged and powerful.

Today, we live with structural injustices baked into our society — into the buildings that remain and the very way our cities work. Choices made generations ago are laid bare in our segregated neighborhoods, biased housing policy, generational class inequalities, geographic health disparities, and civic processes that reflect the interests of the few. And in addition to its complicity on these issues, the preservation field has a long way to go in lifting up buildings and landscapes that reflect the full American story.

So where do we go from here? What kind of future do we want for Providence? How do communities participate more fully in the conversations about the shape of our city and the places we celebrate? And what is the role of preservationists in helping to restore healthier, more equitable communities where everyone’s history matters?

This year’s Providence Symposium will explore the systems that have shaped our built environment and the communities that inhabit it. As we heed the calls for urgent institutional change, a field based on the power of preservation must consider how to tear down and build anew. PPS invites community conversation and visioning about which places matter and why.