RASCL AIMS FOR ACTION IN THE FACE OF A CHANGING CLIMATE

Above: Hundreds of people from the governmental, private, and non-profit sectors, as well as interested citizens, participated in this year's RASCL Summit in Dover.

What will the coming years mean for Delaware with a changing climate?

That’s a question that the Resilient and Sustainable Communities League (RASCL) tackled at its 8th annual Summit in March in Dover.

Summit sessions touched on three main topics, including

• What's in Sight for Delaware's Changing Climate

• Positioning Communities to be More Resilient and

• Sustainable and Local Success Stories.

Resilience practitioners, elected officials, government agencies, and community members from all over the First State listened to speakers and discussed issues that focused on the event’s theme, AIMing for Action: Adapting, Innovating, and Mitigating the Impacts of Delaware's Changing Climate.

This year, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer attended the Summit, as well as Greg Patterson, Delaware's secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

“It’s up to local governments, it’s up to state government, and I recognize in many ways that’s the people in this room right now,” Meyer said about preserving Delaware’s climate and environmental resources.

“A large percentage of the people who are going to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our waterways, and our land, are in this room today, so I cannot thank you enough for what you do every day, every month, every year, but especially now.”

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer addresses the audience at the 2025 RASCL Summit in Dover. This year’s theme was AIMing for Action: Adapting, Innovating, and Mitigating the Impacts of Delaware's Changing Climate.

For the second year, RASCL presented the Community Champion Award, this year to Amy Marasco of Lewes, for her initiative that engaged youth with the environment. Last year's award went to Stacey Henry of the Delaware Resilience Hub and Kathy Lock of Slaughter Beach, Delaware.

Amy Marasco of Lewes, Delaware (left), accepts the 2025 Community Champion Award at this year’s RASCL Summit in Dover from RASCL Steering Committee member Kelly Valencik.

Kevin Brinson, Delaware's state climatologist and director of the University of Delaware's Center for Environmental Monitoring Analysis, explains what the state climatology office does.

RASCL is a collaborative network of state, nonprofit, and academic partners working to create a more resilient and sustainable Delaware. The partnership is comprised of 28 member organizations committed to working together to provide technical expertise and support to Delaware communities to increase their capacity to adapt, mitigate, and respond to environmental changes, including a changing climate. For more information about this organization, visit the RASCL website.