Seeking innovative installations and programming for Boston community gardens | Extended application deadline!
Joe Ciampa Community Garden (East Boston)
The importance of community gardens cannot be overstated. Not only are they gathering places, they encourage people to be active, offer a stress-relieving activity, help build a sense of community, provide a source of fresh produce, and create resilience benefits for the surrounding area.
This spring, the Community Grown program—a partnership between The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees), the City of Boston’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, The Fenway Garden Society,, and TD Bank—is seeking proposals for innovative events and installations at three community gardens, including: Joe Ciampa Community Garden in East Boston, Berkeley Community Garden in the South End, and the Fenway Victory Gardens, the oldest continuously-operating victory garden in the nation.
Successful applications will consider ways to make the gardens more inviting, provoke a sense of wonder and discovery, and include plans to host four community events. While developing proposals, entrants are encouraged to consider the following questions:
How can community gardens strengthen social connections and reduce loneliness?
How can the gardens create a sense of calm and reduce stress in our hectic lives?
The May deadline for proposals has been extended to June 5, 2019 at 9 a.m. To apply, visit: https://space.newurbanmechanics.org/.
"After a successful launch last summer, we are looking forward to the second year of our Community Grown partnership with the Mayor's office and TD Bank," says Vidya Tikku, Director for The Trustees' Greater Boston region. "This year we hope to build community and creativity in three more of Boston's community gardens and offer even more ways for neighborhood residents to gather, learn, and play in community gardens citywide."
The Trustees is proud to be the largest owner of community gardens in Boston, with 56 community gardens in eight different neighborhoods. This year’s community gardening season kicked off with a Gardener’s Gathering in March. Keynote speakers and workshops focused on how investments in open spaces and community gardens can help urban and waterfront areas in a city prepare for climate change impacts like flooding. Mayor Martin J. Walsh attended and announced more than $575,000 in funding awarded by the Community Preservation Act to community gardeners and urban farmers.
The theme of the gathering, inspired by the City’s Imagine Boston 2030 goal for “a healthy environment and to prepare for climate change,” spoke directly to the mission of the Trustees’ One Waterfront Initiative, which seeks to build climate-resilient parks that serve as world-class destinations and community gathering places while also protecting Boston’s vulnerable waterfront.
"Community gardens can be in the vanguard of monitoring, adapting and mitigating climate change,” said keynote speaker Aziz Dehkan, Executive Director of the New York City Community Garden Coalition. “As cities look for ways to mitigate the effects of global warming, urban green spaces are often cited as a potential solution…community gardens provide elements that can handle heavy rains and prevent flooding, protect against storm damage, and capture and store rainwater using cisterns.”
###
For more project guidelines, and the link to apply, visit: https://space.newurbanmechanics.org/
To learn more about The Trustees community gardens visit: http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/boston-community-gardens/