Resilient Roots Workshop 2: Seeing the Shoreline Through a New Lens

Oct 15

3 min read

The Resilient Roots Oakland Shoreline Leadership Training continued with its second session on Wednesday, August 19, taking participants out of the classroom and into one of Oakland’s most important and complex landscapes: the Port of Oakland.

Following our first session on environmental justice, session 2 gave participants an opportunity to connect those ideas to a living landscape where community health, environmental stewardship, and industry intersect. Led by Port of Oakland staff Cory Mann, Environmental Planner, and Luana España, Community Affairs Representative, participants embarked on a bus tour driving through Port operations and into the surrounding waterfront.

From Shipping Containers to Climate Justice

As the group moved through the terminals, participants learned about the different types of cargo, and notably Matson Terminal, which supplies the United States’ overseas territories (like Hawaii and Guam) with goods. But the tour also asked participants to look beyond the containers, cranes, and ships:

What does it mean to have a working waterfront in a community? Who benefits from these systems? Who experiences their environmental impacts? And what does a more equitable and sustainable future look like?

These questions connected directly back to the environmental justice principles explored during the first Resilient Roots workshop. The tour raised important questions about who gets to use, shape, and benefit from these spaces. Participants were encouraged to think beyond the infrastructure itself and consider the people who work along the shoreline, the communities living nearby, and the people whose histories and relationships to the Bay have shaped Oakland over generations.

This highlighted an important principle of climate justice: a transition to clean energy must also create opportunities for the people and communities most affected by pollution and climate change.

Climate Adaptation: Preparing for What Comes Next

The tour also introduced participants to the Port’s work on climate adaptation and the Waterfront Resilience Plan. Participants explored how climate change can affect the shoreline through multiple types of flooding, including tidal and coastal flooding, storm-water flooding, and groundwater intrusion.

The scavenger hunt gave students an opportunity to take these ideas beyond the presentation and into the landscape. As they explored the shoreline, they were encouraged to look for signs of how the environment, infrastructure, and community connect and to consider what makes a shoreline better prepared for future climate impacts. The activity made climate adaptation more tangible by encouraging students to observe their surroundings, ask questions, and consider how the places they live and work can be designed to become more resilient.

Middle Harbor: Where History Meets Restoration

The tour’s main stop was Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, a powerful example of how Oakland’s waterfront continues to evolve. The park sits on the former site of the Oakland Naval Supply Depot, which served the Navy’s Pacific Fleet from World War II until its closure in 1998. Through the Port’s Vision 2000 program, the area was transformed into a public shoreline park featuring restored wetlands, educational resources, and recreation space for people to experience the Bay.

For Resilient Roots participants, the site offered a tangible example of how industrial waterfronts can be reimagined to support the environment and serve the community. It also encouraged participants to think about the question at the heart of much of this work:

What could Oakland’s shoreline become when restoration includes both the environment and the people who call the region home?

Imagining a Zero-Emission Future

The final portion of the tour introduced participants to another piece of Oakland’s clean-energy landscape: the East Bay Municipal Utility District hydrogen fueling station. Participants learned how hydrogen can support the transition away from diesel-powered transportation and how new technologies are being explored to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and goods movement.

The conversation showed that climate solutions must reflect the unique needs and realities of each community and place. Creating a cleaner and more resilient region requires thinking across systems.

Learning Through Place

By moving through the working waterfront, participants were able to see connections between environmental justice, economic systems, and community power. This kind of place-based learning is central to Resilient Roots. We want participants to develop the ability to look at their own neighborhoods and ask deeper questions: What systems shape this place? What histories are present? Who has access? Who is impacted? What is changing? And most importantly, what role can we play in shaping what comes next?

The Resilient Roots journey is continuing, and each session builds another layer of knowledge, connection, and leadership.