All Posts Tagged With: "Collaboration"

The Neighborhood Design Center works throughout the Baltimore and Prince George’s County area helping residents, small non-profit organizations, and community development corporations do what they typically otherwise couldn’t: improve their communties. These communities many times are seeking to improve blocks and homes, renovate parks and school grounds, reclaim abandoned structures for new community uses, improve neighborhood commercial districts, etc., but simply lack the means. The Neighborhood Design Center helps by offering multiple free services: conceptual building and site plans, preliminary feasability studies and cost estimates, neighborhood master plans, and community development guidance. As the center itself is a non-profit, it does all this by mobilizing volunteer architects, planners, landscape architects, engineers, and other design professionals who donate their professional services to help neighborhoods in their initial revitalization efforts. Through their work the center hopes to strengthen community participation in neighborhood improvement efforts, educate the public about the value of good design, and serve as a catalyst for increased investment in neighborhood development.

Baltimore Bird Club is a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society, the Baltimore Bird Club provides a series of links on its website — other local birding groups, birding blogs, interactive games, and issues of the club’s downloadable newsletter.

MARAMA: “The Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association, Inc. is a voluntary, non-profit association of ten state and local air pollution control agencies. MARAMA’s mission is to strengthen the skills and capabilities of member agencies and to help them work together to prevent and reduce air pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region.” The group currently has their headquarters in Towson, MD.

“The Environmental Fund for Maryland is a federation of twenty-one non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving, protecting, and sustaining Maryland’s natural heritage.” Donations to EFM help to resolve issues such as polluted air and water, declining wildlife habitat, depleted Chesapeake Bay harvests, and vanishing farmland, forests, and open spaces.

“Partners for Open Space is a statewide coalition of groups seeking to secure, save, and protect Maryland’s land conservation programs. They are leading an effort to educate citizens, mobilize conservation groups and their members, and expand the coalition to influence Maryland decision makers to restore funding for land conservation and park development.” “Polls show 89% of Marylanders support Open Space” but since “2002 over $480 million has been diverted from Program Open Space”. Go to their resource page and find tools for grass roots organizing. Write to your legislators, find out how you can help, and read and exchange stories.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between 2 wolves.” One is Evil. It is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.

Community Conferencing relies on the brilliantly simple idea of shifting the focus from who did what and how can they be punished, to who has been affected and how to repair the harm. When people come together in a conference, they don’t even have to agree on what happened. The conversation draws out ways to work together to make it better. The facilitator is something of a magician, subtly guiding the process and creating the setting for the group’s compassion and wisdom to blossom.

I love the stories. Continued

Baltimore Bioneers is the regional branch of the overarching Bioneers community, a “forum for connecting the environment, health, social justice, and spirit within a broad progressive framework.” Combining both the social justice and environmental movements, Baltimore Bioneers works to foster new opportunities for creating solutions for restoring the earth and healing communities. Along with other satellite locations throughout North America, Baltimore Bioneers hosts an annual conference that features local speakers, panels, and workshops, while also broadcasting the plenary talks of the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA. Their website features history of the organization, information on the conference, and ways to get involved.