Patch.com: Floating cities and wetland buffers designed to tackle the threat of flooding and sea level rise are two ideas that student leaders presented at the first-ever Y-PLAN Youth Challenge Regional Summit in Berkeley. The Summit served as a continuation of a youth-led movement to re-imagine communities in the Bay Area to be stronger and safer by solving complex urban planning issues before disaster strikes.

The student plans go beyond typical K-12 school learning and could serve as a real blueprint for planners looking to address the multiple socio-economic and environmental threats that climate change is bringing to the Bay Area.

“We are the future and will be the ones most impacted by climate change,” said Rosa, an 11th-grader from Kennedy High School in Richmond. “Richmond is my home and today gave me the platform to make my voice heard and make my city safer and more affordable.”

The Y-PLAN Youth Challenge is in partnership with Resilient by Design | Bay Area Challenge, which challenges architects, designers, community leaders and more to come together and work in a similar fashion to the students. Continue reading here>>