Sustainable MetroWest Gathering 2013 presentation by Bob Andrews

1. Presenter: Bob Andrews
Town: Concord
Organization: ConcordCAN!

2. Three Recent Initiatives
• Monthly Sustainable Concord Coffees this year have addressed such
important sustainability topics as climate change adaptation, toxic waste,
municipal sustainability, water privatization, solar rooftops, and the local
food system.
• ConcordCAN! collaborated with the Concord Museum and the Concord
Free Public Library by putting together a film series about sustainable
food and agriculture. This was part of a coordinated program on these
topics involving museum exhibits and library-sponsored reading and exhibit
programs.
• Members of our group participated in the formation of a new local Food
Council and a gardening collaborative. We also served on the Steering
Group for a Healthy Communities Planning Grant administered by the
Concord Division of Public Health.

3. Three Successes and Best Practices
• Our Sustainable Concord Coffees are an ongoing success, drawing larger and
more varied groups of residents. Attendance has been setting new records this year.
The coffees are planned for early AM so that working people can attend before going
to work. They are a forum, where we start out with an informed speaker or panel and
always allow plenty of time for a moderated discussion among attendees. The
participants include, municipal officials, members of local organizations, and
interested individuals. Personal invitations are extended to people we feel it would be
important to include in the discussion. The events are well publicized through
columns and news releases in the local media, in our monthly email newsletters and
special bulletins to a list of 500, and on our website. There was an especially
substantial interest in our panel on solar rooftops, which co-existed with a “Solar
Challenge” initiated by our municipal sustainable energy committee;
• Our film series on local food and agriculture, in collaboration with the Concord
Museum and Public Library, was also very successful. We have consistently sought
co-sponsorships and collaboration to attract a larger audience.
• We have worked very effectively for several years, again with others, to raise
consciousness about the need for more sustainable and locally based food and
agriculture systems. Some of our members have successfully worked to establish a
local Food Council and build a local gardening movement in Concord.

4. Two Lessons Learned
• The key to successful consciousness-raising is collaboration and
network building. We have, from the outset, worked to build positive
connections with municipal officials and committees, and a range of local
organizations that are involved, in one way or another, with sustainability.
We have co-sponsored or supported events and programs with such
diverse groups as the League of Women Voters, Concord-Carlisle Adult and
Community Education, Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, Drumlin
Farm, the Walden Woods Project, Musketaquid Arts and the Environment,
the Town’s Agriculture Committee, the Concord Comprehensive Sustainable
Energy Committee, and two Concord churches. All of these collaborations
have enabled us to reach new audiences. When we reach out to other
groups, we think about who among us can most successfully extend an
invitation.
• Along with the collaborative approach, ConcordCAN! has learned how
valuable it can be to stay visible constantly through the local media and
our own communications media. We have a monthly column in the
Concord Journal that often deals with an issue that will be coming up later in
the month at the Sustainable Concord Coffee. We supplement the columns
with news releases; with our email newsletters and bulletins to a list of
about 500 recipients, and with our website, which is kept current.

5. Two Plans for Next Year
• We are now looking at a fall speaker series about climate action and
climate solutions. A planning group is coming together now with
representatives from ConcordCAN!, the League of Women Voters,
Musketaquid Arts and the Environment, and the Social Action Community at
First Parish Church. This may be linked to a new affiliation with 350 Mass.
and the Better Future Project. Group action to get us off of fossil fuels is a
common theme.
• Planning is also well underway for a two day September Country Fair, built
around a traditional “Ag Day” farmer’s market. This is, again, a collaborative
project, with several local food groups and the Town Ag Committee. There
will be family events and tours at local gardens and farms, and food films for
kids. We have successfully reached out to local churches, the Ag
committee, and individual and business sponsors for donations to fund the
program.

6. Two MetroWest Collaboration Ideas
• MetroWest sustainability groups could be invited to attend our climate
solutions speaker series, once it has been designed, to join us in planning
the series, and/or to participate, if interested, in sponsoring related speaking
or film events.
• ConcordCAN! may become an official “node” in 350MA’s effort to organize
the state around group actions to get us off fossil fuels and more
aggressively stand up against the fossil fuel industry.