Twenty Summers from Today, Climate, Community & Queer Futures

Explicit content warning

02/19/24 • 35 min

For the past twenty years, the unique queer and artistic enclave of Provincetown has been threatened by the forces of climate change, gentrification, a lack of affordable housing and the homogenization of culture. Marc Norman, Dr. Mika Tosca & Jay Coburn imagine a more equitable and sustainable future for Provincetown, and beyond, that preserves the people and this place for generations to come. Marc Norman is an internationally recognized expert on policy and finance for affordable housing and community development. Since July, 2022, Marc has been the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair of Real Estate Development & Investment, and Associate Dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate at NYU. Trained as an urban planner, he has worked in the field of community development and finance for over 20 years. With degrees in political economics (University of California Berkeley, Bachelors of Art, 1989) and urban planning (University of California Los Angeles, Master of Art, 1992) and experience with for-profit and non-profit organizations, consulting firms and investment banks, Norman has worked collaboratively to develop or finance over 2,000 units totaling more than $400 million in total development costs. Dr. Mika Tosca is a climate scientist and Associate Professor, having completed her Ph.D in “Earth System Science” in 2012 at the University of California, Irvine, and her postdoctoral work at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. In 2017 she took a faculty position at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and in addition to her ongoing work investigating the link between climate and wildfire, she imagines ways that artists and designers can collaborate with climate scientists in an effort to better communicate and conduct climate science research. She has written about the emerging synthesis of art and science and has been invited to speak on the ways art-science collaborations can help us build post-climate change worlds, including a role as Plenary speaker at the 2022 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. In 2021, Mika was named to the Grist 50 Fixers list and in 2023 she was interviewed by both the BBC’s Science in Action and HEATED’s Arielle Samuelson about her work and activism. Mika works with young artists to push the boundaries of collaboration, including a new project that explores the potential of Solarpunk. She continues to be vocal about the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. Jay Coburn has had an unusual career as an advocate, community activist, and chef/small business owner. Since 2012, Jay has served as President and CEO of the Community Development Partnership – the non-profit community development corporation serving the eight towns of lower Cape Cod. He oversees the CDP’s affordable housing and economic development programs designed to build a diverse year-round community of people who can afford to live, work and thrive here. Jay lives in Provincetown and on winter weekends he can be found on the Alpine and Nordic ski trails of northern Vermont.

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World on Fire: Woodwell Climate Research Panel

Fire has emerged as one of the most visible and devastating impacts of climate change. Fire intensity and area burned are increasing around the globe, in many cases earlier and faster than previously expected. Human activities are to blame -- deforestation, land management, and not least, fossil fuel burning -- which points to potential solutions. Explore how fire is changing and what we can do about it with a diverse panel of perspectives spanning the Arctic to the Amazon. Featuring Woodwell Climate Research Scientists from the Arctic and Amazon Programs.

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Journaling and the Writing Process with Ruth Ozeki

“Ever since 1996, when I started working on my first novel, I’ve kept a detailed process journal, where I analyze and develop ideas, and write informally about writing. I think of my journal as a friend, one who never tires of listening to me whine, boast, complain and vent, who is a little bit wiser than me, and often finds solutions to the problems of plot or character that I’m struggling with. I will do a reading from my novels and share some of the corresponding excerpts from the journal. This is not material I usually share with the public, but I think the focus on process might interest the writers and other creative artists in the Twenty Summers community. It’s always fun to see the gears and cogs malfunctioning and to expose the ridiculous amount of effort it takes to make the work seem effortless!” Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest, whose books have garnered international acclaim for their ability to integrate issues of science, technology, religion, environmental politics, and global pop culture into unique, hybrid, narrative forms.