On Sunday, May 5, “Keeping History Above Water: St. Augustine” opens with a “public day” program. The international gathering of preservation, urban planning, economic development, cultural heritage, and climate science experts will address the impacts of climate change, particularly sea level rise, on communities throughout the world.
The “public day” will include a podcast workshop, plenary speaker and book signing and a viewing of the award-winning documentary “The Oldest City Underwater” from Flagler College graduate Mallory Hopkins, ’18.
The “A Podcasting Primer: Learning to Launch Your Own Podcast” workshop will be led by Doug Parsons of America Adapts Media. This event takes place at 1 p.m. and is sponsored by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, the National Park Service and the University of Florida.
The evening program begins at 5 p.m. with the documentary film followed by WJCT Chief Executive Officer David McGowan introducing the new “Sinking Cities: Jacksonville” initiative. The award-winning author and Rolling Stone magazine editor Jeff Goodell serves as the opening plenary speaker. “The Water Will Come” author will be available for a book signing supported by the Flagler College Bookstore.
All “public day” events take place at Lewis Auditorium on the campus of Flagler College, 14 Granada Street. For more information on the “public day” and to express your interest in attending, please visit the event Facebook page for “Keeping History Above Water: St. Augustine, Envision 2050.”
“Keeping History Above Water: St. Augustine” will take place at the historic Casa Monica Resort & Spa. The four-day program will include local tours, educational workshops, panel sessions and student poster sessions. Keynote speakers include Dr. Andrea Dutton scientist at the University of Florida, Rear Admiral Ann Claire Phillips, U.S. Navy (Retired) and Amy Longsworth, Director of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission. Other notable speakers include Tribal Elder Theresa Dardar, international scholars Dr. Tom Dawson and Dr. Joanna Hambly of Scotland, Dr. Rohit Jigyasu of the United Arab Emirates, and Kokei Otosi of New York’s Van Alen Institute.
The main conference portion is sold out at this time.
The program is supported by Flagler College, the City of St. Augustine, the University of Florida, Newport Restoration Foundation, Casa Monica Resort & Spa, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Park Service, Union of Concerned Scientists, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Lightner Museum, Stetson University Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, Florida Climate Institute, Florida Sea Grant, Florida Public Archaeology Network, Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, Flagler College Bookstore, Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine, St. Johns Cultural Council and the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Flagler College is a small private, independent college located in St. Augustine, Fla. The college offers 33 majors, 39 minors, and a master’s degree in Education of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Flagler College has an enrollment of about 2,500 students, as well as an offsite campus in Tallahassee, Fla. U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review regularly feature Flagler as a college that offers quality education at a relatively low cost. A Flagler education is less than half the cost of similar private colleges, and competitive with many state universities. A relatively young institution (founded in 1968), Flagler College is also noted for its historic beauty. The centerpiece of the campus is the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, a National Historic Landmark opened in 1888 by railroad pioneer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. For more on Flagler College, visit flagler.edu.
Keeping History Above Water™ is an initiative of the Newport Restoration Foundation started in April 2016 to address the challenges posed to historic buildings and neighborhoods by sea level rise and increasing coastal storm activity. The initial conference emphasized practical approaches to protecting historic built environments in both the near and long term, at individual building, infrastructure, and policy levels. Newport Restoration Foundation has an ongoing interest in advancing knowledge related to sea level rise, not just in Newport, but in other historic coastal communities across the country. It is NRF’s intent to continue Keeping History Above Water™ to advance public understanding, expand the conversation nationally and globally, and develop solutions to the problems climate change imposes on cultural heritage resources. For more information on Keeping History Above Water™, visit historyabovewater.org. For more information about the Newport Restoration Foundation, visit NewportRestoration.org.
Founded in 1968, the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) is dedicated to promoting and investing in the architectural heritage of the Newport community, the traditional building trades, and Doris Duke’s fine and decorative arts collections, for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of all. NRF also supports research and education in areas that relate directly to its collections and to issues of critical concern to the field of historic preservation. NRF is on Twitter @NPTRestoration, Facebook /NPTRestoration and Instagram@NPTRestoration
