Springfield, Massachusetts
Community planning based on local resident knowledge
In 2001, CoLab (then CRCP) made a 10-year commitment to support community planning and development initiatives in the North End neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. This commitment includes
a partnership with the North End Outreach Network (NEON), the North End Campus Committee (NECC), and an annual Springfield Studio practicum course.
Springfield Studio practicum course
The Springfield Studio is an annual practicum design course in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). It focuses on the physical, programmatic, and social renewal of the North End community in Springfield, Massachusetts, by combining student course work with an applied class project. Community outreach workers join students in collaborating on the project design. The Springfield Studio draws upon knowledge gained from other collaborative projects, including previous practica, the Community Mapping project, the North End Strategic Plan, and individual student research. Past courses can be accessed free through MIT OpenCourseWare.
Final student projects include a plan and design for a community campus to unite the North End (Spring 2004), as well as an economic development plan for the North End (Fall 2005).
Note: Please note that CRCP has been renamed the Community Innovators Lab (CoLab), and all current and future projects will be referenced as such.
Digital Storytelling
In the summer of 2001, NEON (North End Outreach Network) community health advocates created digital stories based on their own experiences in confronting issues they had witnessed in their work. These stories are offered in both English and Spanish.
Telling Our Legacies Digitally (TOLD) began in 2002 as the North End digital storytelling team, a “train the trainers” initiative led by CRCP. TOLD brought together community workers from diverse organizations in Springfield, Massachusetts, and led them through the process of producing short multimedia narratives on topics significant to their communities. In conjunction with the North End Strategic Planning Process, the group developed a proposal for establishing the nation’s first community-based digital storytelling center in Springfield. In October 2003, the Waitt Family Foundation awarded them seed money. The group subsequently appointed an acting director and moved forward with its plans.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
During the summer of 2003, CRCP and NEON led the North End community in creating the North End Strategic Plan. As part of the process, 15 satellite meetings and two larger community meetings were held to gather input for a unified vision and goals for its neighborhoods over the next five years. Defined goal areas included lifelong learning, health, safety, and economic development. The plan was successfully submitted to the Waitt Family Foundation, which later provided support to the community for achieving its goals and vision.
COMMUNITY MAPPING
CRCP brought together three community organizations—the Alamosa Neighborhood Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Roxbury, Massachusetts; and the North End Outreach Network (NEON) in Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition to engaging these groups in building local expertise in geographic information systems (GIS), CRCP assisted them in developing new software for community mapping and spatial information management.
NEON
Springfield Studio
MIT OpenCourseWare
PDF: plan and design for a community campus to unite the North End (Spring 2004)
PDF: economic development plan for the North End (Fall 2005)
NEON community health advocates created digital stories
—Link to Digital Stories Archive in Tools & Resources section
PDF: North End Strategic Plan