Rise Up to Rising Tides

The tides are rising -- so must we.

Through skills-based volunteering, we can adapt overburdened coastal communities to climate impacts today.

America’s diverse tangible and intangible cultural heritage, that has defined people and place for centuries, is in danger. Cultural landscapes, ethnographic resources, archeological sites, historic buildings, and traditions often cannot adapt as quickly as is required to keep up with the rate of the change in the environment and landscape around them.

96 percent of Americans live in counties that have been hit by major weather disasters in the last five years, causing billions of dollars in damages and irreplaceable cultural loss. During recovery from slow and quick onset climate impacts, local resources often are allocated first to adapting vital infrastructure like clean water, schools, and fuel, leaving cultural heritage adaptation under-resourced.

But cultural heritage is vital to building long-term resilience. Coastal communities rely on heritage for social cohesion, tourism revenue, food security, and nature-based livelihoods. Cultural landscapes like mangroves and wetlands serve as barriers to extreme storm events; and vernacular architecture typologies have proven to be a cost-effective alternative to large-scale infrastructure adaptation.

There is a critical need for transformative, community-based solutions to bring resources and adaptation expertise to coastal communities that lack the necessary means to support strategic decision-making about the future of their cultural heritage and identity.

To address this need, we are creating a customized online matchmaking platform to connect skills-based volunteers with communities in need of cultural heritage preservation and resilient adaptation work. Partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Union of Concerned Scientists, our platform connects communities with passionate, pro-bono professionals from an expansive cultural heritage network looking to donate their time and knowledge through opportunities ranging from 1-hour advice phone calls to fully-fledged projects.

Existing 2018 - 2019 pilot projects include skills-based volunteers assisting communities with mangrove restoration in US Pacific island territories; creating a cultural resource management plan for coastal historic sites along the Gulf Coast; and using a seawall restoration project to enhance social resilience in Alaska. Coastal communities across America already have the vision and multi-generational knowledge to support climate adaptation, but limited resources to fully implement.

The goal of the equity-driven platform is to connect volunteers to marginalized communities to augment local knowledge with pro bono support, preservation expertise, and technical tools to implement the community vision. Successfully implemented, the Rise Up to Rising Tides platform exponentially increases access to a national network of pro bono adaptation assistance for communities whose cultures, stories, and histories the country has already systematically made invisible for much of our collective history. Without it, many will simply not be able to access the national resources and expertise they need to safeguard local histories and identities in the face of climate change.

The disasters and risks faced by American communities today are just the beginning. By 2100 at least 414 towns and cities across America will be partially inundated. Each has a unique history and culturally important relationship to place that stands to be lost. Rise Up to Rising Tides can offer resilient cultural heritage expertise and technical tools before it’s too late.

Rising Tides is the first interactive online skills-based volunteering platform to connect professionals to communities in need of cultural heritage adaptation expertise. We apply existing technology - an online matchmaking platform - to the new idea of volunteering for climate adaptation.  

Our platform connects users to virtual volunteer opportunities, including expert phone consultations and co-creating adaptation strategies for cultural assets. The platform also mobilizes neighbors to connect on-the-ground to local pre-scoped platform projects. By providing an “in-person” filter, users can opt-in to projects located within a 1.5-hour driving radius, including projects like baseline risk assessments or landscape restoration.

Our platform enables virtual volunteering and augments people-to-people networks through in-person volunteering using a seven-step process: 

1. Volunteer professionals register, providing qualifications and geographic expertise.
2. Communities post a specific question or choose from 25 pre-scoped projects.
3. Our team uploads the project and professionals apply.
4. Communities receive qualified matches, review, interview, and accept/reject.  
5. When accepted, virtual introductions are made. For in-person projects, community and volunteer coordinate local travel at volunteer’s expense. 
6. Both log progress and we provide additional support.
7. Volunteer provides instructions/training for long-term care, including contact information for future questions. 
8. Rate and review!

PHASE 1 (2016-2017): We conducted 350+ interviews and targeted research in coastal communities, with support from National Geographic. In interviews, we identified scope, depth, and starting points for 25 service projects. Parallel interviews with potential volunteers were used to create project milestones and assessment metrics.

PHASE 2 (2018-2019): We are testing, documenting, and evaluating 25 virtual and in-person volunteer projects across the U.S. and U.S. Territories. In January 2019, we will begin to design and build the Rising Tides website based on lessons-learned from prototypes, train regional hub leaders, and solidify professional association and corporate partners as volunteer pool sources.

PHASE 3 (2019 - 2021): Rising Tides pilot web platform launches, serving as the fine-tuning stage of the project. The site will be closely monitored and evaluated. Volunteer projects may be dropped, added, or altered depending on the demand and supply of both community and volunteer needs. In this phase, we anticipate scaling from 50 projects to a community of 150 projects, including both virtual and on-the-ground volunteer projects. Our five-year aim is to connect 300+ communities to pro bono climate adaptation and heritage preservation assistance and to provide meaningful opportunities for 300+ volunteers, delivering 10,000+ hours of service.

We reach beneficiaries through our cross-platform virtual portal, with the support of in-person regional hubs. Rising Tides has adopted an influencer strategy whereby we’ve identified 13 regional coordinating nonprofit organizations to serve as information hubs. Hub directors will be trained to lead informational sessions in their region to help connect communities with volunteer opportunities and answer localized questions.

We also have a growing list of over 20 volunteer partner companies, associations, and networks, including two flagship partners: the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s national network (15 million in broadest reach) and the Union of Concerned Scientists Science Network (20,000+).

We have been working directly with 350 coastal community leaders across America to identify climate adaptation needs and volunteer opportunities; and with our two flagship volunteer partner organizations, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Union of Concerned Scientists, among other volunteer organizations. Right now, we are prototyping Rising Tides in 13 selected communities. The populations we are serving are small to mid-size U.S. coastal communities and urban neighborhoods that are under-resourced, geographically remote, or socio-politically marginalized, or a combination thereof. Rising Tides simultaneously serves passionate professional volunteer teams looking to donate their time and expertise to climate action.

By December 2018, Rising Tides will have served 13 communities (~100,000 people) with 20 volunteers delivering 500 hours of service. We are focused on our hub model to leverage partner organizations in 13 designated regions that have already introduced communities to the platform. We use four evaluation metrics to measure our impact:

(1)  Number of volunteers recruited;

(2)  Hours of pro bono services;

(3)  Dollar value of hours donated;

(4)  Services delivered (e.g. # adaptation projects)

By December 2019, we will pilot 25 community projects (~250,000 people). We expect to be serving 150 communities or ~1,000,000 people within 3 years.

Victoria Herrmann, the Executive Director, works directly in and with coastal communities as a National Geographic Explorer, providing a vital national network of beneficiaries. Victoria has incorporated and led another 501(c)3, The Arctic Institute, recognized by Prospect Magazine’s Think Tank awards and Forbes Under 30.

Jeana Wiser, Innovation Officer, spent six years as the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s first resilience expert and Climate Heritage Coalition co-founder. She organized the Building Resilience Workshop and founded Greyspace Collective a firm supporting climate-impacted communities through cooperative approaches.    

Our Board of Advisers, 10 climate and heritage leaders, offer additional advice, guidance, and resources.

For 2018-2019, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a charitable institution, is Rising Tide’s fiscal sponsor. In this period, we are sustained through grants and gifts. Incubating Rising Tides in the short-term removes some barriers that young organizations typically face and allows us to focus on our mission, programming, and strategic planning.  

In 2019, we will begin 501(c)3 incorporation with a mix of revenue models to ensure long-term sustainability. In addition to any funds from foundations or gifts, the two primary models used in Rising tides are the “market maker” and the “local nationalizer.” As a market maker, Rising Tides will be based on a sliding scale membership access model. Communities are required to make a small annual investment to receive virtual and on-the-ground assistance. It also ensures communities’ commitment to the program. Because pro bono adaptation assistance is a high priority for local leaders and compelling across the country, as a local nationalizer, we will use our regionally-based hubs to raise money locally through special events like professional development master classes and local sponsorship. 

Importantly, we are a resource recycler relying on in-kind donations from our corporate, association, and organization partners for skills-based volunteers, marketing, and logistical support.

As a prototype supported by a three-year grant, Rising Tides is ready to pilot and scale-up. To do this, we need hands-on training, exposure, and mentorship to build an effective organization that can engage local leaders and professionals across the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to work together on climate heritage projects.

We believe that the peer-to-peer brain trusts, access to MIT’s innovation ecosystem, and intentional introductions to leaders at the technology social-enterprise nexus is what we need to accelerate Rising Tides’ impact. With 12 months of personalized support and a dedicated mentor, we can grow our solution’s reach and value. 

1. The dynamism of climate impacts, community needs, and volunteerism could prove challenging. The platform will need to be built as a living and evolving site, responsive to the needs of both communities and volunteers. Solve and MIT tech and social entrepreneur networks can provide unparalleled access to best practices and mentorship in successfully growing an interactive virtual platform.
2. Skills-based volunteering is a two-way street. Rising Tides will need to provide a meaningful experience that provides benefits. Solve’s facilitated introductions to private-sector leaders will help us better understand the metrics for successful large-scale corporate volunteering programs for professionals.