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A team from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences will join an interdisciplinary initiative examining how two Maine cities can prepare for climate change while strengthening connections among their riverfronts, communities and shared histories.

The LARP team, led by Associate Professor Samantha Solano, is one of five selected for the 2026 Envision Resilience Challenge, a design and research initiative that brings students together with municipal officials, residents and community organizations to explore local approaches to climate resilience.

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Beginning this month, graduate and undergraduate students will work with partners in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, through spring 2027. The challenge focuses on the two riverfront cities’ post-industrial transition, changing demographics and exposure to climate-related threats. A central focus will be the Androscoggin River, which has linked Lewiston and Auburn historically, economically, physically and ecologically.

Students will explore how the river and its surrounding landscapes can become more connected as both an ecological corridor and a social and recreational center. Their work will be developed in collaboration with local planning departments and organizations, including the City of Lewiston and City of Auburn Planning Departments, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, Androscoggin River Watershed Council and Androscoggin Soil and Water District.

Each university team will approach the challenge from a different perspective, examining topics that include landscape and memory, riverfront connections, infrastructure, community well-being, planting systems and ecological resilience.

Students will build on existing planning and climate policy work in Maine, including “Maine Won’t Wait,” the state’s four-year climate action plan, which was launched in 2020 and updated in 2024.

The initiative will culminate with a public exhibition of the designs for Lewiston and Auburn, expected to open next spring.

In 2025, Solano and her students participated in the Envision Resilience Challenge in the coastal towns of Bath and Harpswell, Maine, garnering a National Design Studio Award from the Boston-based nonprofit. The award supported another LARP studio project in Boston last spring.