Questions for Stitching the Shore
Where are you from?
Have you ever been to a salt marsh near Boston or elsewhere?
What is the first word that comes to your mind when you remember or imagine a salt marsh?
What is the sound of a salt marsh?
Have you fished on a salt marsh?
Have you picnicked on a salt marsh?
Have you swum off a salt marsh?
Have you photographed a salt marsh?
Have you ever seen a salt marsh in a film or read about one in a novel?
Did you grow up near a coast?
Do you live near the coast? How near?
Have you swum in Boston Harbor?
Have you gone out on a boat in Boston Harbor?
Have you ever stood on the edge of Boston Harbor and looked out to sea?
Has your basement or house ever flooded?
Have you ever been stranded by a flooded road?
Have you ever had to take another route to work due to flooded roads?
Has your workplace ever been damaged by an extreme storm?
Has anyone in your family ever had to leave their home due to damage from an extreme storm event?
Do you see climate change happening around you?
Is your home or workplace affected by climate change?
What are your fears about how you will be affected by climate change?
When do you think climate change will begin affecting you?
How will climate change affect your home life?
How will climate change affect your work life?
How will climate change affect your family life?
How will climate change affect your community?
Will climate change affect the city of Boston?
Do you have a garden? How does that impact you?
Do you have houseplants? How do you take care of them?
Are you involved in your local community? How?
Do you go to local community meetings when issues arise?
Where do you get your news about your local community?
Where do you get your news about the city of Boston?
How do you communicate with your family?
How do you communicate with people in your local community?
How do you communicate with nature?
Have you listened to songs about flooding? What is one that you remember?
Do you eat oysters?
Where do oysters eaten in Boston come from?
Do you use salt marsh hay on your gardens?
What are you worried about most related to climate change?
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Do you live near the coast? Was your choice to live where you do impacted by possible sea level rise or extreme weather events?
Are your choices about where to live in the future impacted by ideas about climate change?
What external supports would you need to change your behavior related to climate change?
How is your behavior related to sea level rise (if it is)?
What external supports would you need to change your behavior related to consumption?
What would be helpful motivators when it comes to taking care of a possible landscape intervention, like a salt marsh?
What makes you feel hopeful when it comes to climate change?
What makes you feel hopeful when it comes to the future?
What does a mutually supportive relationship between plants and people look like to you?
What does a mutually supportive relationship between the earth and people look like to you?
What does a mutually supportive relationship between the city and people look like to you?
What do you want to tell policy makers about climate change and cities?
What do you think your neighbors need to know about the future vis a vis climate change and sea level rise?
How would you explain what you know of of sea level rise and coastal cities to a curious 5-year-old?
How would you explain what you know of of sea level rise and coastal cities to a frightened 5-year-old?
What do you think of when you imagine the Boston shoreline?
Which of Boston’s shores do you like best?
What makes you feel protected when it comes to climate change and sea level rise?
What should policy makers know or do when it comes to protecting Boston for the future?
If you lived right on the seaside right now, would you stay or would you relocate? Why?
What course of action do you suggest knowing what you know about climate change, the sea, and Boston?
What course of action would make you feel like you had an impact when it comes to the sea, Boston, and the climate?
What course of action would make you feel safe when it comes to the sea, Boston, and the climate?