Yesterday I went to the North Dam Mill in Biddeford for Making Sustainability Work, an interactive event organized by Sustain Southern Maine. Those old mill hallways are long, long, long!

Eventually I reached my destination, which was already abuzz.

Inside, about two dozen displays covered a wide range of topics; sustainability is quite a catch-all. I found at least a couple of displays that hit close to home. One was a report on Wells as one of nine pilot communities for the SSM efforts — a well presented summary of solutions. Another was the voluminous report for increasing pedestrian access to the Webhannet salt marsh, the result of a commissioned study completed this year.

I expected to find Chris Feurt there and yes, she was, promoting the Saco River Estuary Project. She unveiled a new poster about why the work is being done and what's next.

A few tables down I found Annie Cox testing out her condensed version of Climate Games. She prepared the 1-minute table-top version of the 2-hour workshop to give folks a feel for what the reserve and its partners are trying to accomplish in the realm of climate adaptation.

I gave her game a try, teaming up with someone who coincidentally did graduate work here at the reserve 20 years ago. We each represented two "community roles" as we voted for how we would deal with a climate-related scenario in our fictitious coastal town. We were unable to reach consensus in 60 seconds, but took lessons away from the game anyway.

As I strolled the space, I collected some really useful handouts to apply toward sustainability work in my own southern Maine town. While attendance was not strong, great information and smart people were available for anyone keyed into sustainability issues in our region.