Join the City of Cambridge, MAPC, our partners, and other members of the public for a forum on autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required.

The City of Cambridge has begun the process of creating a Future of Mobility Implementation Blueprint to help prepare for and shape new mobility options in a way that meets our community goals, meets the mobility needs of all people who live in, work in, and visit Cambridge, and is well integrated with our sustainable transportation system. This forum is an opportunity for you to:

• learn about the role of the Local, State, and Federal government in managing AVs,
• hear from researchers who are thinking about the interactions between AVs and people, and
• engage with the people behind the technology to gain a better understanding of the state of the technology, plans for the future, and challenges.

Confirmed speakers:

• Joseph E. Barr | Director | Cambridge Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department
• Susanne Rasmussen | Director of Environmental and Transportation Planning | Cambridge Community Development Department
• Alison Felix | Senior Transportation Planner and Emerging Technologies Specialist | Metropolitan Area Planning Commission
• Bryan Reimer | Research Scientist | MIT AgeLab
• Ryan Jacobs | Director, Boston Operations | nuTonomy

This event is hosted by the City of Cambridge in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.

We’re postponing… but! In response to the Massachusetts’s Governor’s guidance in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, we’re postponing this event. In the meantime, however, we’re still thinking about these important issues, and know you are, too. We invite you to sign up here to receive occasional emails on this and related topics. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to being in touch!

How might creative acts of remembering and imagining in public help us reframe the past and present–and see more inclusive futures?

Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) for a conversation that explores the power of public art to catalyze critical dialogue around public memory, representation, and belonging, and to transform public life. You’ll hear from artists, curators, and organizers who use creative strategies to reframe public memory and imagine future possibilities for more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities.

Guest Speakers:

Paul Farber – Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art and Space at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design (keynote speaker and moderator)
Erin Genia (Dakota/ Odawa) – Multidisciplinary artist, educator and cultural worker specializing in Indigenous arts and culture
Kate Gilbert – Executive Director of Now + There
Stephen Hamilton – Artist and educator, based in Boston

This event is part of a series organized by the MAPC’s Arts and Culture Department and NEFA’s Public Art Department in conjunction with MAPC’s MetroCommon 2050 planning process. This unique, cross-sector initiative brings together artists and creators, planners, and policymakers to discuss the evolving relationship among public art, public memory, and public policy and to explore how artists can envision and shape more inclusive, thriving spaces and communities in Greater Boston.

Summer temperatures in the Northeast are increasing, along with extreme heat days and heat waves. At “From Snow Days to Heat Waves,” learn about the intersections of climate change, heat, and health in the Greater Boston area.

Speakers will highlight projects across the Greater Boston area addressing the issues of rising and extreme temperatures, public health, equity, and climate change via short presentations and a panel discussion. A full list of speakers will be announced soon.

Extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather events in the United States, and can exacerbate existing health conditions. And the effects aren’t experienced equally: the impacts of extreme heat are greater in low-income and BIPOC neighborhoods, where historic disinvestment has resulted in less access to green space, fewer street trees, and inadequate housing and cooling infrastructure. These impacts will likely be intensified as climate change causes temperatures to increase and humidity to rise.

This event is co-hosted by the Museum of Science, Boston; Mystic River Watershed Association; and Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The Metropolitan Mayors Coalition Climate Taskforce and Resilient Mystic Collaborative are co-sponsors.

The program is made possible with generous support from the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program.

Join to hear Jacqueline Patterson, Director of Environmental and Climate Justice Program at the NAACP, discuss the intersection of climate resiliency and racial justice.