Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC) brought Rising Waters to Providence, RI, to launch a new environmental resilience and leadership adult education program for Olneyville residents. Spanish and English speaking participants came together during this interactive, eight month program to spark community change. Members of the WRWC “New Voices at the Water Table” community cohort gathered in Donigian Park on May 22, 2021 to install 300 Rising Waters Fish Flags. The ephemeral (in and out) installation communicated their personal hopes for neighborhood climate resilience and showed how sea level rise will impact Olneyville over time due to climate change. Additionally, each flag included a hand-written action statement: a community-based environmental concern and solution proposed by a New Voices cohort member as part of the Climate Creatives #Do1Thing campaign. Olneyville is especially vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise and storm surge as it is located at one of the lowest points of the Woonasquatucket River’s watershed.

WRWC also engaged high school students by bringing Climate Creatives to Donigian Park to show how sea level rise can affect them - even in an urban park. High school students assembled the Fish Flags and wrote #Do1Thing action items on them in preparation for the installation on May 22nd. The Providence River, which runs through the city as a tidal river that empties into Narragansett Bay, occasionally floods the surrounding neighborhoods. Donigian Park, a wonderful amenity in a social justice neighborhood, will flood more often as storms and sea level rise increase.