Do you live in Rockport? Are you interested in helping to shape a future vision for the Rockport commuter rail station area?

Join the Town of Rockport and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) for a public forum on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018 starting a 7 p.m. at Rockport Library, 17 School Street, to learn more about an upcoming project focused on “equitable transit-oriented development,” or eTOD.

Learn more about the visioning process so far and eTOD here.

RSVP NOW

You will receive a link to join the webinar 1-2 days prior to the event.

Presented by Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center, Massachusetts Climate Action Network, 350 Mass for a Better Future, and Massachusetts Sierra Club

A growing number of cities and towns are committing to achieve 100 percent renewable energy and making comprehensive plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions community-wide. Local officials and ordinary citizens, working together at the municipal level, are proving that we can take big steps forward on clean energy no matter what’s happening in Washington, D.C.

In this webinar, we’ll share new resources developed to help residents, elected officials, and municipal staff accelerate progress on clean energy and energy efficiency in their communities.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Local Energy Action Dashboard (LEAD) provides a snapshot of a city or town’s energy usage and carbon emissions from homes and businesses, helping local leaders prioritize where to take action in order to have the biggest impact. Community Action Planning for Energy Efficiency (CAPEE), developed by the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, is an online platform that helps communities identify actionable steps to achieve energy and carbon reduction goals.

Speakers will discuss how residents and local officials can use these resources in their communities. We will also share the Road to 100% Renewable Energy toolkit developed by Mass Power Forward.

Speakers:

• Megan Aki, Clean Energy Analyst, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
• John Balfe, Senior Buildings and Community Solutions Associate, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
• Ben Hellerstein, State Director, Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center
• Carol Oldham, Executive Director, Massachusetts Climate Action Network
• Alan Palm, Director of Organizing, 350 Mass for a Better Future
• Jacob Stern, Clean Energy Organizer, Massachusetts Sierra Club

MAPC and the City of Newton invite you to attend a Kick-Off Roundtable Discussion to learn more about City’s process for developing the Climate Action Plan and to share your ideas on how should we act to combat climate change, considering Newton’s many strengths and singular needs. Please RSVP with your name and affiliation to climateplanning@newtonma.gov.

The Climate Action Plan, on which the City of Newton is partnering with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), will establish community-wide climate mitigation goals and identify potential measures to achieve them. It will be an action-driven plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lay out the pathway toward a sustainable, resilient, and healthy community for all.

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.

MAPC’s Zoning Atlas, a data product years in the making, makes zoning information for all 101 of the region’s cities and towns available to the public. We invite you to join us to learn more about how to explore, use, and provide feedback on the data, and to hear more about why transparent municipal zoning information is a critical resource for the future of Greater Boston

MAPC is happy to be in attendance at this event as part of our partnership with the City of Malden on the development of their climate action plan.

Attending the event? Look for the MAPC table, and come by and say hello! We’ll have a dot-voting activity, a postcard activity, and a drawing station/art contest (winning art will be used as section dividers in the final climate action plan!). 

More information on the event can be found here. 

More information on the Malden Climate Action Plan (CAP) can be found here.