Remain’s Envision Resilience Challenge Spins Off into New Organization

Maine-based partners Abigail Hayne and Ashley Krulik of the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future talk with Envision Resilience executive director, Claire Martin, during the 2024 Portland and South Portland Challenge exhibition opening weekend. (Photo credit to Nick Eaton)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, Feb. 10, 2025

CONTACT:

Claire McElwain

Remain

cmcelwain@remain.org

(317) 989-8140

NANTUCKET, Mass. — Envision Resilience, an annual design studio that for the last five years has brought together students and coastal communities to imagine a resilient future in the face of climate change, will spin off from parent organization Remain into an independent organization, the two groups announced today.

“Launching programs like Envision Resilience from Nantucket illustrates how the island serves as a microcosm for addressing global challenges,” said Cecil Barron Jensen, executive director of Remain. “Nantucket’s unique vulnerabilities and strengths provide a compelling platform for testing and scaling innovative solutions for communities around the world.”

Since its founding in 2020 as a program of Remain—the Nantucket-based organization that seeks to bring creative thinking to environmental and community challenges—Envision Resilience has grown into a multi-university, multi-year program, engaging 458 graduate and undergraduate students. It has worked with communities throughout the Northeast to catalyze long-range planning, community conversations and engagement efforts to adapt to the reality of sea level rise and other climate impacts.

"We started the Envision Resilience Challenge because to create a better future, first we have to imagine it,” said Wendy Schmidt, founder of Remain and Envision Resilience. “Envision helps communities plan how they can thrive in a warming world, drawing on the innovative thinking of student architects, urban planners, environmentalists, and so many more. Now, Envision has dreamed its own future into being by becoming an independent organization, which will enable it to expand its work and bring its vision to even more communities.”

As part of its mission to foster the next generation of leaders and advance the collective practices of planning, architecture and landscape architecture, Envision Resilience has partnered with many of the nation’s leading institutions at the forefront of design and resilience research. University partners to date include Cornell University, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Howard University, Northeastern University, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, State University of New York at Buffalo, Syracuse University, University of Florida, University of Maine at Augusta, University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, University of Miami School of Architecture, University of Michigan, University of Rhode Island, University of Toronto, University of Virginia and Yale School of Architecture.

“By convening communities at the forefront of the most pressing climate challenges and academic partners leading cutting-edge design research, Envision Resilience has been effective in driving forward a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving,” said Claire Martin, executive director of Envision Resilience, who ran the annual challenge since its inception as project manager at Remain. “We look forward to expanding the impact of Envision Resilience in the years ahead by working with more communities, convening more networks of future and current professionals and continuing to support research initiatives and programs advancing adaptive resilience planning and design.”

Rooted in Remain’s mission to bring creative thinking to environmental and community challenges, Envision Resilience was launched with the support of advisors Carolyn Cox, director of the Florida Climate Institute; Marty Hilton III, president of Architecture Sarasota; and Robert Miklos, founding principal emeritus of designLAB architects.

The Envision Resilience Challenge earned several significant accolades over the years, including the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Planning Association’s annual student award for its 2022 Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge and recognition from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects for student innovation in its 2023 Envision Resilience New Bedford and Fairhaven Challenge. In keeping with its interdisciplinary approach to solving climate challenges, Envision Resilience has incorporated art into each of its design studios, spurring a number of public art partnerships and collaborations including the October 2021 “Rising Above” Light Projection Installation in Nantucket, MA, the September 2022 “The Seas Are Rising and So Are We” Mural in Warren, RI and the August 2024 “Envision Resilience” Mural in New Bedford, MA.

The nonprofit will be headquartered in Boston with an office set to open this spring. To learn more visit envisionresilience.org.

About Remain

Remain works to bring creative thinking to environmental and community challenges, elevate local industry and encourage innovation and resilience. Remain Nantucket engages in charitable work to support the evolution of a healthy year-round community across the island. Remain Ventures invests in buildings and mission-related businesses that strengthen Nantucket’s year-round economy and spark innovation that brings long-term value to the island’s residents. Both Remain Nantucket and Remain Ventures are funded by Wendy Schmidt and her husband Eric to support the local economy, community and environmental vitality of the island of Nantucket.

About Envision Resilience

Envision Resilience works to advance innovative city planning and design in the face of climate change through student and community partnerships. By connecting current and future professionals working across disciplines, the organization creates opportunities for communities to reimagine climate challenges and inspire resilient solutions. Envision Resilience, originally developed by Remain, is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all.

View PDF version of the press release here.