overview
Pushing the Limits: Change
This public program asks your community to consider how climate change and extreme weather may affect your local or regional economy and jobs. One way to adjust to these environmental changes is by seeking a career in a sustainable field, or — even better — in a field that builds resiliency and protects the environment. We’ll explore ways you and your community can develop innovative, solution-oriented ideas for resiliency-building. 

 

Program Video
Since he was a teenager, Bren Smith knew he would spend his life at sea. But after working for years as a commercial fisherman, he realized the industry wasn’t sustainable and he had to switch gears. He tried his hand at oystering, but after two hurricanes wiped out his business, it was time to change tactics and build a new solution for the future.

With his never-give-up attitude, Bren adapted yet again by developing a 3D kelp farm. Now he grows shellfish and seaweed in columns, using a method that helps protect his livelihood from the ravages of weather. The vertical farm model is storm resistant, spatially efficient, and even creates a barrier that protects coastal communities. To make this crop economically viable, Bren and his wife team up with chefs to introduce kelp into restaurants. To secure an innovative and sustainable future, Bren mentors agricultural student interns about how to compost and fertilize with kelp.

Bren’s ideas have gotten so popular that he started a nonprofit organization to help set up 3D farms in every coastal state in the U.S. and in 40 countries around the world. His method is a new but familiar way of life, and helps the world adapt to a changing environment by thinking creatively about jobs and bringing a new food source to the table.

 

To support your implementation of Pushing the Limits: Change, you can download this document, which contains:

• A list of additional suggested books
• A set of discussion questions that can be customized to your community’s interests

 
Marketing your Program
We recommend starting your planning and marketing at least 2-3 months before your program date. Please note that instructions for appropriate credit are included in the Marketing Plan Template which you can find in Professional Development Unit 4. At minimum, the following program credit line must appear in all published materials relating to Pushing the Limits:

“Pushing the Limitsis a library hosted reading, viewing, and discussion program for adults in rural and under resourced communities, made possible by grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation.”