The Newport Restoration Foundation is launching a mentorship program for students at next month’s Keeping History Above Water symposium, pairing three of them with local professionals in preservation, architecture, city planning or climate science.
The Rising Practitioners program is open to undergraduate and graduate students studying historic preservation, architecture, city planning, site management, climate science or related fields. Letters of interest go to KHAW2026@newportrestoration.org by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2, with submission requirements posted at the foundation’s website. The Southeastern New England Charitable and Educational Foundation is funding the program.
“We believe it is our collective responsibility to support the next generation of preservation and sustainability professionals,” said Hilary Fagan, the foundation’s executive director.
The symposium, subtitled “Looking Back, Moving Forward,” runs Oct. 21 to 23 in Newport. It opens Wednesday with sessions on how the historic trades support climate resiliency, followed by a reception and keynote. Thursday and Friday turn to planning, with sessions on historic buildings and neighborhoods affected by sea level rise, recurrent flooding and climate change, plus hands-on demonstrations and site visits to resiliency projects around the city.
Speakers include representatives of the World Monuments Fund, Stone Living Lab, Strawbery Banke Museum, the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Keeping History Above Water started in Newport in 2016 as a conversation about what rising seas mean for historic coastal communities, and has since brought conferences and workshops to vulnerable regions elsewhere. Registration is open at newportrestoration.org/events.
