This summer, we were back on the sand and sea with full-scale free programs!

Despite this summer being the rainiest we’ve seen in nearly a decade, thousands of community members from across the state joined us for free, accessible and inclusive programming on Boston Harbor, the harbor islands, and our region’s public beaches in 2023! From island cruises and fishing trips to experience and learn about local marine ecosystems, to music and cultural festivals and beach parties to foster community fun — we did it all with your support.

We educated and employed over 19,000 future environmental stewards. Our 40 high school and college aged youth staff led children and families in marine and STEAM-based activities, free cruises, and programming all along our coast, on the water and on the islands.

We addressed systemic barriers that have prevented people of color, people with disabilities, and people who don’t primarily speak English from accessing the region’s public beaches. In May, we released a report of our findings and recommendations on Overcoming Obstacles to Beach Access with the Legislature, the Administration, DCR and the public, and have already started implementing recommendations to make our beaches more equitable, diverse, and accessible.

We activated our beaches by funding over 200 free events led by the community, for the community. This summer through our Better Beaches program we funded 95 community groups and creatives to put on a large variety of free public beach events from Nahant to Nantasket that empowered a myriad of cultures and community members to highlight their traditions and created access points to the water for people with disabilities. In addition, we were proud to involve almost 1,000 young people in the decision-making process through our brand-new Participatory Budgeting program, which gave the community the power to allocate $25,000 for events they wanted to see on their public beaches.