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Community action/Massachusetts

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An image of the fall foliage in central Massachusetts. Author: rawheadrex
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Location Massachusetts
Coordinates 42° 22' 43.96" N, 72° 1' 56.52" W

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Massachusetts.

Massachusetts
New England
US
US climate
Cosmolocal
  • News How flood-ravaged Boston took on the climate deniers – and won, theguardian.com (Jul 24, 2025)
  • News How an Unlikely Coalition of Climate Activists and a Gas Utility Are Weaning a Boston Suburb Off Fossil Fuels, insideclimatenews.org (Dec 21, 2024)
  • News Massachusetts farmers turn cranberry bogs back to wetlands in $6m initiative, theguardian.com (Nov 28, 2024)
Read more
  • News New England Lawmakers Weigh Plug-in Solar as Europe’s Model Spreads, insideclimatenews.org (Feb 18, 2026) — Legislation in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island would allow small solar panels to plug directly into home outlets, expanding access to clean energy.
  • News Where the wild things thrive: Finding and protecting nature’s climate change safe havens, theconversation.com (Dec 17, 2025)
  • News New England warming faster than most places on Earth, study finds, theguardian.com (Dec 04, 2025)
  • News Eva v Goliath: the 20-year-old climate activist taking on Trump and the fossil fuel industry, theguardian.com (May 20, 2026)
  • News Meet the Americans who choose to live without a car in the US: ‘It takes some doing’, theguardian.com (May 08, 2026)
  • News Inside a Kentucky City’s Unusual Experiment in Citizen-Led Governance, nextcity.org (Apr 08, 2026)
  • News Eva v Goliath: the 20-year-old climate activist taking on Trump and the fossil fuel industry, theguardian.com (May 20, 2026)
  • News US has caused $10tn worth of climate damage since 1990, research finds, theguardian.com (Mar 25, 2026)
  • News New York Cooks Up a Plan to Boost Energy Efficiency in Public Housing, insideclimatenews.org (Mar 16, 2026)
  • News Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
  • News Solidarity fields in Syria: Reviving local seed production, globalvoices.org (May 21, 2026) — A community garden on Damascus's edge is quietly rebuilding Syria's agricultural memory
  • News The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world, Adam Morton and Petra Stock, theguardian.com (May 15, 2026)

Networks and sustainability initiatives

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Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the world.

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What Is Hylo? A Quick Overview
Authors: Hylo, 1.01 mins.
Date: 2026-05-20
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A resilient island, Guiuan, Philippines - trailer
Authors: Partners for Resilience, 3.50 mins.
Date: 2020-03-30
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First Timers Welcome Explained
Authors: parkrun, 2.14 mins.
Date: 2022-01-27

Community networks, Community action/Philippines, Arts, sport and culture / ...This week's featured UK videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

International events

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Global or International events

  • Event Jun 03, 2026 (Wed) — World Bicycle Day, The bicycle is a "symbol of sustainable transport and conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production, and has a positive impact on climate." (United Nations), June 3 each year, un.org
  • Event Jun 05, 2026 (Fri)World Environment Day, June 5, annually, worldenvironmentday.global
  • Event Jun 08, 2026 (Mon) — World Oceans Day, June 8 each year, worldoceanday.org
  • Event Jun 12, 2026 (Fri) — World Day Against Child Labour, every year on June 12, ilo.org
  • Event Jun 17, 2026 (Wed) — World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, each June 17, un.org
  • Event Jun 21 and all of June — World Localization Day, worldlocalizationday.org
  • Event Jun 22, 2026 (Mon) — World Rainforest Day, June 22 is World Rainforest Day, worldrainforestday.org

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Massachusetts video

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From Gas to Geo
Authors: HEET, 2.15 mins.
Date: 2022-10-11
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Community Action Pioneer Valley - 2021 Impact Week
Authors: David Jeffway, Jun 3, 2021

Community involvement

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Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, nonprofit, community-run organization based in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1984 by residents of the Dudley Street Neighborhood, along with members of the Riley Foundation, as an effort to rebuild the poverty-stricken community surrounding Dudley Square. It is known as the first community-run grassroots organization to gain "the power of eminent domain" by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, meaning the community controls its own development and the use of the land. W

Via the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, residents worked with city and state officials to transfer ownership of 15 acres to a Community land trust (CLT), in which 1,300 parcels of land were placed. Now, those lots boast 225 new affordable homes, a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse, urban farm, playground, gardens, and other amenities one would only expect in more privileged, resource-rich neighborhoods...Shareable, Dec 10, 2019.

Community energy

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The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore, as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the states's Clean Energy and Climate Plan had a goal of reducing 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions levels by 25% by 2020. Current goals include installing 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However, as of Q4 2021 the state had only 120 MW of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project. Construction began on the Vineyard Wind 1 project on November 18, 2021, after a long fight for approval.Commonwealth Wind was selected for development in 2021, but the developer has attempted to cancel the project due to increased costs. There are eight projects planned for off the southern coast of Massachusetts, though some will deliver power to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.

Cohousing

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  • Rocky Hill Cohousing, inter-generational collaborative community situated in Northampton in the lower Connecticut River Valley.

see also: Cohousing

Towards sustainable economies

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Wellspring Cooperative, "creating an engine for new, community-based, worker-owned companies in inner-city Springfield, based on the purchasing power of area anchor institutions."

Sharing

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Reading Public Library's Library of Things

Climate action

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350 Massachusetts

Climate change in Massachusetts affects both urban and rural environments, including forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and coastal development. The Northeast is projected to warm faster than global average temperatures; by 2035, the Northeast is "projected to be more than 3.6°F (2°C) warmer on average than during the preindustrial era."

Sustainable transport activism

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Wikipedia: Hiking trails in Massachusetts (category)

Cycling activism

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U.S. Bicycle Route 7 (USBR 7) is a north–south U.S. Bicycle Route that follows the Western New England Greenway in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont in the United States.

Education for sustainability

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wikipedia:List of nature centers in Massachusetts

Biodiversity

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Wikipedia: Massachusetts, Ecology

Environment quality

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Mystic River Watershed association - wikipedia:Pollution on Cape Cod

Open spaces

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Department of Conservation and Recreation (mass.gov) - Greater Worcester Land Trust - Kestrel Land Trust - Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust - Mystic River Reservation - Sudbury Valley Trustees

Citizens data initiative

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Energy Profile for Massachusetts- Economic, environmental, and energy data

News archive

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  • News Massachusetts Just Took a Big Step Away from Natural Gas. Which States Might Follow?, insideclimatenews.org (Dec 07, 2023)
  • News More Massachusetts cities seek to ban gas, citing lack of diversity in pilot and urgency of climate crisis, energynews.us (Aug 03, 2023)
  • News Food forests are bringing shade and sustenance to US cities, one parcel of land at a time, The Conversation (Apr 04, 2023)
  • This Massachusetts Town Shows What a Sustainable Economy Looks Like, Jul 12, 2017...@Shareable
  • Church solar project inspires solar for neighborhood, May 2, 2017...treehugger.com
  • Teenagers force Massachusetts to act on greenhouse gases via lawsuit, May 19, 2016...arstechnica.com
  • Massachusetts to open area the size of Rhode Island to offshore wind power, June 18, 2014...TreeHugger
  • A Worker Cooperative That Proves Alternative Economic Systems Aren't Only For The Privileged, Apr 14, 2014...fastcompany.com

About Massachusetts

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Campaigns

Coal Free Massachusetts

Massachusetts ( MASS-ə-CHOO-sits, -⁠zits; Massachusett: Muhsachuweesut [məhswatʃəwiːsət]), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to its south, New Hampshire and Vermont to its north, and New York to its west. Massachusetts is the seventh-smallest state by land area. With an estimated population of over 7.1 million, it is the most populous state in New England (with nearly half of all New Englanders residing in Massachusetts), the 16th-most-populous in the United States, and the third-most densely populated U.S. state after New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts was a site of early English colonization. The Plymouth Colony was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims of Mayflower. In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, taking its name from the Indigenous Massachusett people, also established settlements in Boston and Salem. In 1692, the town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria, the Salem witch trials. The American Revolution originated in Massachusetts, with Boston becoming known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for its political agitation. In 1786, Shays' Rebellion, a populist revolt, influenced the United States Constitutional Convention. Originally dependent on agriculture, fishing, and trade, Massachusetts transformed into a manufacturing hub during the Industrial Revolution. Before the American Civil War, the state was a center for the abolitionist, temperance, and transcendentalist movements. During the 20th century, the state's economy shifted from manufacturing to services; in the 21st century, Massachusetts has become the global leader in biotechnology, and also excels in artificial intelligence, engineering, higher education, finance, and maritime trade.

Page data
Keywords US states, Library of things, cohousing
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 3 pages link here
Redirects Massachusetts, Massachusetts community action
Views 88 page views (analytics)
Created April 14, 2014 by Phil Green
Last edit January 11, 2026 by Phil Green
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