Join the MAPC Clean Energy team for lessons learned from net zero case studies close to home and farther afield. This webinar is part of our Zero to 101 series to provide resources for our communities pursuing Net Zero targets.

Register for the webinar here.

What is spatial justice, and how can cities and towns use this framework to rethink how their built environment supports people’s rights to be, thrive, express and connect? What role can artists and public art play in helping us imagine and shape more inclusive, thriving public spaces throughout Greater Boston? Join a lively discussion among artists, activists, and urbanists who are leading the conversation about spatial justice in our region today.

How can public-making—the collective creation and activation of public spaces for interaction and belonging—be a radical, joyful tool for spatial justice? Join artists, activists, and community leaders to discuss how public-making can create opportunities for interaction, laughter, dialogue, and surprise, and explore real-life examples of public-making that you can bring to your community.

Not all public spaces are created equal. Transformative planning and urban design begins with addressing historic and current experiences of racism and exclusion. But what does that mean in practice? Join the conversation with creative community leaders about what it means to design for spatial justice. We’ll explore how skate parks, sidewalk kitchens, and “dance courts” can change how public space is used, who feels welcome in it, and how inclusive creative placemaking can help lead the way toward lasting spatial justice.

Reclaim? Recontextualize? Relocate? Remove? What should we do with monuments that no longer reflect our shared history and collective values (or never did to begin with)? This conversation among artists, designers, and educators will explore how creative commemoration can help us see the past and present in a new light—and chart a path toward more just futures. 

Register 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)