A conversation among community land access facilitators
Tuesday, April 22 – Wednesday, April 23, 2014
This two-day event will engage advocates, policy makers and other stakeholders in best practices for community access to land, focusing on New York City (April 22) and then expanding the conversation to cities around the world (April 23).
Feel free to distribute this widely to your networks! Vacant Acres is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
NOTE: You will need to register for each day of the event separately as capacity is limited. Follow links below to register and click on the map to see details about where participants are coming from.
April 22: The New York Experience (REGISTER HERE)
66 West 12th Street, Room 510
1:30-5:00pm, starting with snacks & registration
2:00pm Identifying Opportunities & Facilitating Transformations: Creating Oases in All Our New YorksNew York City Community Gardening Coalition (NYCCGC), on the history of community gardening in NYC — Haja & Cindy Worley, gardeners NYC Parks Department GreenThumb, on NYC’s unique program for making municipal land available for community use — Nancy Kohn, Director Design Trust for Public Space, on design solutions for transforming community gardens into inclusive spaces — Caroline Bauer, Production & Program Associate Assembly Member Joseph Lentol, on potential incentives for private land-owners to make their land available to neighbors Prospect Farm, on running a farm on a privately-owned vacant lot in Brooklyn — Meera Bhat, farmer
3:15pm Protecting Community Access to Land: Keeping Our GreensLegal Teams and Plaintiffs from the LaGuardia Corner & Boardwalk Community Gardens, on the role of Public Trust Doctrine & Litigation — Aziz Dehkan, NYCCGC Executive Director plus guests New York City Community Gardening Coalition, on transparency, accountability & legislation — Raymond Figueroa Reyes, NYCCGC Board President
4:00pm Establishing Long Term Management: In PerpetuityNew York Restoration Project, on non-profit ownership and the role of design and capital projects — Chris Vanterpool, Capital Team Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, on the land trust model of protection for community property — Demetrice Mills, board president Cooper Square Community Land Trust, on combining housing and community space through a community land trust on the Lower East Side — Katy Lyle, Board Member NYC Community Land Initiative, on building capacity for more community property in NYC (invited)
April 23: Sharing best practices from urban vacant land transformation facilitators around the world (REGISTER HERE)
55 W 13th Street, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
9:00am-5:00pm