Tools for Great Communities!
Happy New Year and thank you for your support!

As 2015 comes to a close, the Board and staff of Friends of Midcoast Maine would like to thank you for your support. Our 3 programs, The Community Institute, The Community Ambassador Program, and our Community Technical Assistance Program, have been successful because of YOU and your participation and support. Thank you for making a difference. Your donations, your involvement in our communities, and your good words about Friends of Midcoast Maine make our work possible.
 
Great communities don't just happen. Midcoast Maine's iconic village centers, scenic views, rolling hills, productive farmland, working waterfronts and engaged citizens can't be taken for granted. That's why The Friends of Midcoast Maine's work and your partnership are so important.
 
Thanks to you...we've continued the successful Community Institute educational program, now in its second year, through which we engaged community members and leaders in the important issues of economic growth and development, aging in place and creating great places and streets. Over 200 participants from 35 towns heard from national, state and local faculty, taking valuable concepts and ideas back to their communities to consider. Participants in the February 2015 session on Multi-Generational Communities returned to their communities with concrete ideas to include more flexibility in town ordinances so older citizens can stay in their homes.
 
Thanks to you...we are able to provide cutting edge technical assistance about the benefits of downtown development, the costs of sprawl and the impacts on our tax base.
  
Thanks to you...we have Community Institute sessions planned on Farms, Foods & the Conservation Connection to Healthy Communities, on Maine's Millennials and their Social & Economic Impact and on Building Active Community Environments.
  
Thanks to you....We will continue our work to build strong places, communities, and leaders in Maine through The Community Institute, our Community Ambassador Program, our Heart & Soul planning work and our work with our many midcoast communities and other organizations in Maine.


Please mail your donation to Friends of Midcoast Maine, 5 Free Street, Camden, Maine 04843 and save us fees or DONATE ON-LINE HERE.

 

Thank you and Happy New Year! 
The Community Institute - Session #5
Register for Farms, Foods and The Conservation Connection to Economically Healthy Communities.
Maine communities have jumped on the band wagon to improve opportunities for farmers and farming, to support conservation efforts and to promote these initiatives. What are the numbers behind these efforts? How much does farmland, conservation and open space really cost us? How are communities and community members benefitting from these growth patterns?

Learn about
  • the economic value of conservation, farms and locally grown foods
  • the costs and benefits of conservation
  • the farm to table movement
  • the small farm movement
  • the balance between rural land and town centers
  • do we have sprawl in Maine? How does it help or hurt our communities?

This workshop incudes hands-on, outdoor field work on parks, places and open spaces. The session also includes extensive networking time to share information, resources, experiences. This session is sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank, Maine Farmland Trust, Coastal Enterprises Inc., and others. Don't miss this important session. The $125 registration fee includes light breakfast, lunch, and all materials. Some scholarships are also available.

 
Midcoast Farm
Active Community Environment Workshops
Check out these 2 opportunities in 2016 to learn how to create active, livable community environments. Sessions are available in Lisbon Falls and Rockport Maine in March 2016. Register for one or more and bring colleagues from your community for the best results. Sponsored by the Active Communities Workgroup and in collaboration with the Maine Downtown Center and Friends of Midcoast Maine.
The Community Institute - Final Report
Almost 60 people from all over Maine and northern New England attended Community Economics in downtown Brunswick. This program attracted community members, planners developers, architects, business owners, realtors, citizen planners and many others. Featured faculty members were Joe Minicozzi from Urban 3LLC and Chuck Marohn from Strong Towns. Read Final Report here...

Heart & Soul Planning Grows in Maine

Friends of Midcoast Maine staff Jane Lafleur is a coach for the Heart & Soul program of the Orton Family Foundation. Bucksport Maine is the most recent community to embark on this transformational planning process to be guided by what matters most to their community.

If you would like to learn more about how Heart & Soul Planning can transform your community, visit the Orton Family Foundation website at Heart & Soul. Be sure to give us a call at Friends of Midcoast Maine to schedule a presentation, technical assistance or a phone call for your community. Please call (207) 236-1077 for more information.

Design Assistance

 

The Citizens' Institute on Rural Design™
2016-2017 Request for Proposals is now open for rural communities facing design challenges, from Main Street revitalization to art-based community development.CIRD will select up to six communities, with populations 50,000 or less, to host a two-and-a-half-day design workshop aimed at solving local design challenges and planning for the future. Selected communities receive a CIRD stipend of $10,000 dollars and in-kind professional assistance to organize the workshop and follow up activities. The workshops are interdisciplinary and feature a wide range of design, planning, and creative placemaking professionals, bringing together local leaders from non-profits, community organizations, and government agencies to develop actionable solutions to a community's pressing design challenges.  To apply and learn more, click here. The application deadline is January 12, 2016.

Articles of Interest
Check out the following articles recently in the news:
 
Poynton Roundabout-Revisted
Poynton Roundabout-Revisited

Protected Intersections For Bicyclists
Protected Intersections For Bicyclists

  
 

Thank you for your generous donations to Friends of Midcoast Maine. Your support makes our work possible. There is still time to make a difference by giving generously before the end of 2015. Thank you for your support. 
Jane Lafleur, Executive Director | Friends of Midcoast Maine and The Community Institute | (207) 236-1077 | info@friendsmidcoast.org | www.friendsmidcoast.org and www.communityinstitute.org
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