Stone Living Lab Partnership with Living Seawalls Featured During Earthshot Prize Events
by Rebecca Shoer
Earlier this month, five teams from across the world were awarded the Earthshot Prize at an awards ceremony in Boston. The prize is a $1.1 million gift to jump-start innovative climate and environmental solutions. In addition to serving on the Host Committee for the event, the Stone Living Lab also participated in the event by announcing a partnership with Living Seawalls, a 2021 Earthshot Prize finalist.
The Lab is thrilled about this partnership, and Lab staff met with Dr. Katie Dafforn of Living Seawalls in Boston last month to explore potential pilot sites throughout Boston Harbor. The pilot sites that the team explored could host Living Seawalls’ modular panels and allow researchers to explore how well they perform in new conditions; they would also mark the first Living Seawalls project sites in North America. The Lab’s leadership team – Paul Kirshen, Joe Christo, and Melanie Gárate – and Dr. Dafforn also were invited to participate in the visit by the Prince and Princess of Wales to Piers Park in East Boston on December 1st, and discussed the exciting new partnership with them.
From left to right: SLL Directors Melanie Gárate and Joe Christo, Dr. Katherine Dafforn of Living Seawalls, and SLL Director Paul Kirshen.
Lab staff and partners were proud to then join the broader environmental community at the MGM Music Hall for the Earthshot Prize awards on December 2nd. It was exciting to learn about the incredible innovation happening around the world to repair our planet, and enjoy a night celebrating the environmental work of so many organizations in and around Boston. Mayor Wu’s opening remarks and Elizabeth Solomon’s powerful land acknowledgement reminded all of us why we do the work that we do – and how much more is yet to be done. You can view the broadcast of the awards show and both Mayor Wu and Elizabeth Solomon’s pieces here.
News of the Lab’s partnership with Living Seawalls and participation in Earthshot Prize events were highlighted by media outlets around the world, and we were delighted to see such global enthusiasm for this innovative project. Explore stories about our work below, and stay tuned for updates on the pilot sites in 2023!
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Prince William and Princess Kate get a taste of Boston’s climate innovation