Looking for information on MAPC’s official meetings and legal notices? Find it here.
In the beginning, Small Steps on Climate Change was a dance and embodied movement performance intended to inspire Metro Boston to view climate change as an opportunity to create stronger, collaborative, healthier, and more vibrant communities in the face of climate change. Just six weeks before opening night, COVID-19 altered the path.
Small Steps: Dances of Resilience is a full-length documentary film about overcoming the struggle to create and perform during a global pandemic. The dancers tell their stories of climate, COVID, art, and hope, and, finally, they dance.
Join us for three film screenings on YouTube Live this September 9, 10, and 11. Each screening will be time-limited and all content will be removed between and after each screening, so see it while you can!
After the Friday, September 11 performance, we will hold a “Meet the Dancers” Q&A session on Zoom.
The production was developed by movement artist, screenwriter and Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) Artist-in-Residence Hortense Gerardo and MAPC Senior Environmental Planner Darci Schofield to integrate the arts into climate change planning.
Directed by Hortense Gerardo and produced by Darci Schofield and MAPC.
Featuring original choreography and performances by:
- Laura Sanchez Garcia, award-winning flamenco dancer, choreographer, and educator
- Elizabeth Walker, former Los Angeles Ballet soloist
- Simon Chernow, KRUMP and fusion hip-hop dancer and core leader of Boston’s Climate Strike
- Jean Appolon Expressions, Haitian dance troupe fusing contemporary elements with Haitian folkloric dance
- Olivia Link, contemporary modern dancer and Urbanity Dance educator
- Any Berube and Theo Martinez, competitive ballroom salsa dancers and instructors
In an effort to provide greater and more equitable access to childcare, the City of Revere is partnering with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), the regional planning agency for Greater Boston, to identify existing barriers to accessing quality care and listen to ideas for the future of childcare regulations in the city.
This meeting has been postponed to a later date and time still to be determined. Once it has been determined, this posting will be updated to reflect the new date and time. Thank you for your understanding!
Revere residents:
What kinds of arts and cultural community space do you want at the old Beachmont Fire Station on Winthrop Ave? Join us for this virtual conversation to learn what we’ve heard from the project Working Group, community focus groups, and the project survey, and let us know what you think!
Join us for this virtual community-focused conversation. Register here.
Meeting materials and presentation will be in English, Spanish, and Arabic.
Find more information about this project here: mapc.ma/Beachmont-Fire-Station.
Join us for an informational webinar about the next round of MAPC’s Accelerating Climate Resilience Municipal Grants which is launching the Invitation for Proposals on August 15!
MAPC is launching this next round to help advance strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change.
Register for the informational webinar
For more information about the ACR grant program, please visit the program webpage.
Part of the “Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency” online speaker series, this session serves as an introduction to indigenous kinship systems and how it informs how Tribal Nations and Peoples perceive climate health and how it informs the approach to solutions. Guest speaker: Ryann Monteiro.
Attempts to engage Tribal Nations are generally well-intended but under-informed. A general lack of understanding of Indigenous worldviews and tribal sovereignty has often led to “one size fits all” solutions that do not fit the needs, wants, or desires of that community. Layered with a history of non-indigenous entities utilizing extractive practices in their relationships, the result has been a legacy of distrust. In response to this, many tribes are highly selective in who they work with and why as they seek to protect the very things that have been, and currently are, under threat: their land, language, culture, families, and sacred teachings.
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Clean Energy Department is hosting its final webinar for its Equity in Clean Energy webinar series. This event will focus on equitable access to clean energy technologies, specifically models for EV (electric vehicle) equity.
Join us to learn about a local equity-focused EV Carsharing model, EV charging infrastructure at multi-unit dwellings, and to hear about the MAPC Transportation Department’s work in this area.
There will then be an opportunity for Q&A.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpduCtrT0iHdNkvPrPTrrA5iwB6kwdbEUT#/registration
Part of the “Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency” online speaker series, this talk focuses on the power of indigenous land management practices that have taken place for thousands of years, and the importance of traditional ecological knowledge in the preservation of these native ecological systems that have been severely damaged by human and industry impact for hundreds of years. Guest speaker: Leslie Jonas
Currently, the condition of the water is critical as our waterways are sick and dying. This current condition threatens the lifeways of the local indigenous people who have lived and thrived in these natural environments for millenia. Concepts like Rewilding were introduced to reverse biodiversity loss but can exclude the local traditional ecological knowledge systems that have kept the natural world in balance since time immemorial.
Part of the “Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency” online speaker series, this presentation will delve into the intricate connection between traditional ecological knowledge and the Wampanoag perspective. Guest speakers: Linda Coombs and Bret Stearns
It will trace the evolution and expression of their worldview up until the time of initial contact. The discussion will cover how the Wampanoag people managed to preserve certain traditions despite colonization’s challenges. Moreover, it will emphasize the critical contemporary implications of these dynamics, particularly underscoring the pivotal role of the Wampanoag perspective in strengthening climate resiliency efforts in the present day.
Part of the “Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency” online speaker series, this discussion will lead us beyond land acknowledgments to a more collaborative and rights-based approach to climate resilience. Guest speaker: Kristen Wyman
Learn how indigenous land back efforts in both private and public lands are benefiting municipal efforts to restore and manage forests and waterways for increased biodiversity, greater productivity and resilience to shock and disturbance. Specifically, we will explore the historical characteristics of local indigenous foodways and consider how a transition to an alternative food system grounded in indigenous knowledge and leadership can support a more robust and resilient ecosystem in the context of our rapidly changing climate.
The Accelerating Climate Resilience 2023 Speaker Series invites you to join us for our next webinar: Building Community Resilience: Starting with Mental Health. Join us on November 15 from 12pm to 1pm to learn more navigating the impacts of climate change on mental health and wellbeing. You will hear from three leaders, discussing pathways to center people in climate planning, healing pathways to build resilience, and offering resources and a hopeful lens for the future:
- Dr. Shalini Shah, DO, Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital
- Meghan Wise, Climate Hub Coordinator, UBC Climate Hub
- Nancy Rihan-Porter, Director of Equity, Resilience and Preparedness, Cambridge Public Health Department