Category: Community Engagement

DLTA Spotlight: Virtual Meeting Guide

Posted on March 31, 2021 at 11:49 am. Written by Elise Harmon

DLTA Spotlight: Virtual Meeting Guide Written by Operations Specialist Rachel Marx District Local Technical Assistance, or “DLTA” funds, are state grants distributed among the state’s 13 Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs)—including MAPC—to provide cities and towns with money and technical staff to work on projects related to regional collaboration, economic development, zoning, and protecting the environment. […]

What You Need to Know About Hosting Virtual Focus Groups

Posted on March 2, 2021 at 4:45 pm. Written by Iolando Spinola

What You Need to Know About Hosting Virtual Focus Groups By Iolando Spinola, Community Engagement Specialist II Are you trying to build meaningful relationships with community members as you conduct community engagement for a project? Are you looking to gather feedback from groups you might not usually hear from or people underrepresented at planning events? […]

March Data Viz: The Online Municipal Meeting Pivot

Posted on March 1, 2021 at 1:05 pm. Written by Annabelle Thomas Taylor

Every month, MAPC’s Data Services department is releasing maps and data visualizations covering a range of vital and interrelated topics: equity, housing, transportation, climate, arts and culture, and more. March’s visualization highlights reflections on virtual zoning and planning board meetings across the state: what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what lessons we can take from one […]

It’s Time to Embrace the Virtual Meeting for the Long Haul

Posted on February 26, 2021 at 9:00 am. Written by Carolina Prieto

It’s Time to Embrace the Virtual Meeting for the Long Haul By Carolina Prieto, Community Engagement Manager Nearly a year ago, in a matter of just a few weeks, government agencies and regional planning organizations had to sharply pivot their public participation processes into the digital realm. MAPC launched its first fully-virtual community forum at […]

Inclusionary Engagement: Lessons from Next Stop Revere

Posted on February 1, 2021 at 5:53 pm. Written by Iolando Spinola

Inclusionary Engagement: Lessons from Next Stop Revere Written By: Iolando Spinola, Community Engagement Specialist II Revere, Massachusetts is a city of immigrants, founded on waves of migrations from countries across the globe. About 37% of Revere’s residents identified as foreign-born in recent years and over 50% are non-native English speakers. Due to this, a wide […]

Storytelling to Capture Community Cohesion

Posted on January 27, 2021 at 3:31 pm. Written by Jenn Kaplan

Storytelling to Capture Community Cohesion Sense of place can be difficult to define and express. It’s subjective, political, aesthetic, poetic. You can feel it when you’re there, but everyone will feel differently based on their personal histories and experiences. Daphne Xu, filmmaker and urban planner When the MAPC team started a small business plan for […]

Moving Our Democracy Forward: Virtual Town Meetings

Posted on January 5, 2021 at 5:25 pm. Written by Iolando Spinola

Moving Our Democracy Forward: Virtual Town Meetings Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Greater Boston region in early March, municipalities have been at the center of addressing many of the problems that rose with it. One of those? Keeping our democracy running. Besides pivoting municipal operations to comply with social distancing guidelines and facilitating general […]

Call for Participants: “Living Together” Documentary

Posted on August 7, 2020 at 6:01 pm. Written by Elise Harmon

Download Call for Participants Call for Participants: “Living Together” Documentary MAPC and filmmaker Mariona Lloreta are seeking participants for a short film that will feature residents of Greater Boston. The “Living Together” documentary will highlight the experiences of those living in the region and connect those experiences to MetroCommon 2050, Greater Boston’s next regional plan. […]

Shared Practices for Engagement in Virtual Meetings

Posted on May 8, 2020 at 10:24 am. Written by Elise Harmon

Hosting engaging public meetings over virtual platforms can be tricky. Since the COVID-19 emergency necessitated working from home, MAPC has been working with staff and partners to understand how to host engaging virtual meetings. This document assembles some recommendations and shared practices

Cambridge Wins 11th Annual Shannon Grant Basketball Tournament

Posted on August 5, 2019 at 2:50 pm. Written by Elise Harmon

Youth from eight cities and towns had the chance to compete head-to-head this weekend in a basketball tournament held by the Metro Mayors Coalition. On Saturday, Aug. 3, teams from Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Quincy, Somerville, Revere, and Winthrop competed in the 11th Annual Shannon Grant Basketball Tournament at Hoyt Field in Cambridge. This year’s […]