Community Engagement for Long-Term Greenway Success: A Mill River in Western Massachusetts

Fifteen years ago, a group of citizens gathered informally to initiate a greenway along the twenty-mile Mill River that connects the Town of Williamsburg and City of Northampton. Using local energy and expertise, a greenway continues to emerge and has become part of the lives of citizens all along its path. The Mill River Greenway Initiative aims to heal the broken bits of our place in this region and on this planet. We are calling families to the river to listen to it, study it, learn from it, dance in it, call to it in its Native name – Pawagonick, the place where ground meal is made. We are using multidisciplinary inquiries to understand what the river is telling us, and we are slowly constructing a physical ribbon of greenway to reconnect what historical use has chopped into pieces. In this process, we are allowing the river to heal so it is more resilient to climate change and we are a more cohesive community. Members of the Mill River Greenway Initiative will present several of our successful activities and the significant limits we are working to expand. We propose a tripartite presentation: Community Activities on the Mill River from constructing a section of greenway to dancing in the river. Ensuring Continuity – Integrating Mill River planning and activities with local governments and institutional rigor and organization with Smith College. The Mill River in Context –The context of our work mirrors the white, educated middle-class composition of our presenters and members. To try to keep ourselves honest, we practice a reiterative process of clarifying our individual intentions to allow shared intentions to emerge. Long-term success will require incorporating the hopes and intentions of unrepresented communities. So far we have failed to address this problem and are eager to explore any suggestions and experiences from other greenway initiatives.