City of Somerville (fiscal agent for MVP Grant) with Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Winthrop, and the Mystic River Watershed Association Several Communities, MA

Lower Mystic Collaborative Regional Climate Assessment

BSC served as a subconsultant to Arup on a regional climate assessment spanning six municipalities, the local watershed association, and more than a dozen critical infrastructure and community-based organizations.

The project focused on identifying climate-related vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and prioritizing strategies to strengthen regional systems through a lens of community resilience and equity. An innovative approach was used that paired separate infrastructure and social vulnerability assessments, then applied GIS and other analyses to identify areas of overlap.

BSC led the design of a virtual, multi-day severe weather tabletop exercise simulating a 100-year storm using 2050 climate projections. The exercise engaged more than 20 organizations and revealed key interdependencies and potential cascading failures across regional infrastructure systems.

Drawing on expertise in emergency management and business continuity, the exercise incorporated both physical and operational vulnerabilities to create a realistic and challenging scenario. Data generated through the exercise informed both the critical infrastructure and social vulnerability assessments.