Rackemann Attorney Celebrates Successful Trade Mission

BOSTON - June 26, 2015 - PRLog -- On June 22, 2015, Rackemann attorney Lauren Armstrong met with other members of a women-led trade delegation from Boston to Hamburg in which she participated in June of 2013. The trade mission, which visited Hamburg’s International Building Exposition and its innovative HafenCity urban development project, focused on sustainable development and climate resilience planning techniques. The members met to mark the second anniversary of the successful trip.

The delegation had another reason to celebrate, however. Delegation member Ellen Watts, an Architect with the firm Architerra, applied many of the techniques she observed in Hamburg to win the Mayor of Boston’s Boston: Living with Water competition. The competition sought resilient design solutions to address the challenges of climate change and rising sea level in Boston. The competition, which had a $13,000 dollar prize funded by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and the Barr Foundation, drew several dozen entries. Architerra’s winning design for a 100 acre section of Fort Point Channel included an elevated ground plane with tidal basins and land wharves, an international design exposition, low carbon transit and renewable energy district. The designs are scheduled to be exhibited at the Boston Society of Architects, and there are discussions underway to display them at the Massachusetts State House, as well.

This is just the latest example of delegation members sharing the sustainability and climate resilience techniques and practices that they observed in Hamburg. Delegation members have presented at various real estate development industry and architectural conferences, before state transportation officials, and state legislators. Their success at disseminating the lessons they learned in Hamburg has led to the delegation being commended by the Massachusetts State Senate.

About Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster

Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster is a leading Boston full-service law firm with over 125 years of experience representing business, institutional, and individual clients. Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster’s core practices include real estate, environmental and land use, business, litigation, family law, and trusts and estates. More information is available at the firm’s website: http://www.rackemann.com