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
Join MAPC to hear from housing organizations, the Department of Housing & Community Development, and Boston and other municipalities on how to respond to residents at risk of eviction or other destabilizing forces during the pandemic.
We’ll learn about the anticipated impacts of expiring eviction moratoria, an overview of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative, and tenant rights and responsibilities. A panel will then discuss tools available to help residents stay in their homes, how to implement them, and what localities are doing to support residents experiencing housing instability during these unprecedented times.
Speakers will include:
Tim Reardon, Director of Data Services, MAPC
Chris Kluchman, Deputy Director, Community Services Division, DHCD
Tom Ambrosino, City Manager, City of Chelsea
Domonique Williams, Deputy Director, Office of Housing Stability, City of Boston
Chris Cotter, Housing Director, City of Cambridge
Keith Benoit, Community Development Planner, City of Northampton
The Commonwealth recently announced that residents and staff of public and subsidized senior housing are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as part of the first tier of Phase II of the vaccine rollout. This step is anticipated to begin later this month.
With this opportunity comes the need to quickly arrange vaccination opportunities for some of state’s most vulnerable residents. This requires coordination among three groups: municipal officials and staff, including local boards of health; owners and managers of public and subsidized senior housing, including local housing authorities; and medical providers who can staff clinics and vaccinate residents.
Please join us on Tuesday, February 9 to learn how cities and towns can support vaccination in senior housing facilities.
Webinar speakers will include:
Robin Lipson, Deputy Secretary, Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Emily Cooper, Chief Housing Officer, Executive Office of Elder Affairs
There will be an opportunity to ask questions!
More information from the Commonwealth on COVID-19 vaccinations for senior housing setting is available here.
MAPC is releasing new research that analyzed 27,000 flood claims from the historic March 2010 storms that dropped 18 inches of rain across Eastern Massachusetts. $59m in disaster assistance was paid out. We found that only 4% of disaster claims were located in FEMA 1% chance flood zones. With the prospect of more frequent and severe storms due to a changing climate, what can local, state, and the federal government do to better understand, prepare for, and minimize flooding and flood damage?
Presenters and panelists:
- Anne Herbst, Principal Environmental Planner – retired, MAPC
- Mia Mansfield, Director of Climate Adaptation and Resilience, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
- Jason Mammone, P.E., Director of Engineering, Town of Dedham
- Van Du, Senior Environmental Planner, MAPC – Moderator
Following this event, all registrants will receive a copy of the report via email.
Register to join us for this webinar here!
We invite you to join the MetroWest Collaborative at MAPC for our annual trails forum. Our host this year is the City of Framingham. The forum will provide an update of regional trail accomplishments and share progress in Framingham for linking the downtown, Farm Pond, Cushing Park and other City destinations with a connected trail network.
The event includes breakfast, a welcome by Mayor Sisitsky, several presentations, and a walking tour of trail projects adjacent.
Specific milestones to be celebrated this year:
- The City recently completed the purchase of the CSX right-of-way to extend the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham
- Purchase agreement for ~50 acres of conservation land on the Framingham/Sherborn line that will provide key trail connections
- The East Coast Greenway has relocated their route in 2023 to pass through Framingham
Optional afternoon walking tours look at two additional locations in Framingham where we are looking to create a continuous shared use path between the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Upper Charles Trail
Agenda:
8:15 a.m. – Breakfast and mingling
9:00 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions
9:15 a.m. – Metrowest Greenway status report from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council
10:00 a.m. – Framingham Trails Focus
11:00 a.m. – Walking Tour of current and proposed trail projects (about 2 miles long adjacent to Cushing Park). The tour will include the following projects or trails:
- Sudbury Aqueduct
- Chris Walsh Trail
- Framingham Station Access
- Development projects and trail potential
12:30 p.m. – Formal event ends with additional optional walking tours after lunch
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break for those continuing the afternoon tours
Afternoon Walking Tours:
Walking Tour #1 at 1:30 p.m. – South Framingham to Sherborn (Meet at Bates Park on Bates Road)
Walking Tour #2 at 3:00 p.m. – Bruce Freeman across Route 9 to Framingham State University (Meet at Oak St in front of Village Hall)
Join the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the City of Boston Office of Environment, Energy, and Open Space, and nonprofit advocacy organizations for a briefing on how third-party electric suppliers harm Massachusetts residents, why the industry is past the point of reform, and how you can help support efforts to protect residential consumers.
Two Briefings: 1:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m.
EPA Region 1 continues to work on the development of a permit referred to as an “RDA Permit” – that will regulate stormwater run-off in the Charles, Mystic and Neponset River Watersheds.
In this webinar, the EPA will discuss the background and current development of the RDA permit, the types of actions that the permit will require, and will answer questions. The EPA is particularly interested in hearing from municipalities about how this permit can best be implemented to meet local as well as federal clean water goals.
For those unable to attend the presentation, there will be a chance after the draft permit is issued later this year, to provide comments to the EPA.