Community Placemaking Mini-Grants Announced

A recent AARP placemaking workshop in White River Jct. attracted some 80 town and city planners, community organizers, grassroots groups and local citizens to learn more about creating public spaces that are vibrant, welcoming, safe and accessible for everyone. These projects employ temporary changes with the goal of leading to permanent change that supports healthy active lifestyles for people of all ages and abilities. The workshop featured a number of presentations on actual projects that have been launched in VT towns as well as a some exciting hands-on workshop sessions. A highlight for attendees was the announcement by AARP Vermont that up to three mini-grants of $3,000 each will be made to eligible organizations, local towns and cities embarking on such initiatives.

Pasted below are copies of the presentations as well the Grant RFP and application.

From the RFP:
This is your chance to "start small" by test-driving a process or material in your community with the expectation that the ‘test drive’ will be further improved upon and refined over time to progress permanent change. Your project will be aimed at temporarily reinventing a space that improves the safety, accessibility and overall appeal. Simple modifications can powerfully alter the health, economic, social, and ecological value of a community.

The objectives of the Placemaking Demonstration Projects are to help participants:

 -Enhance perceptions and attitude toward community change.

 -Recognize how placemaking and community design influence successful aging, health and overall livability.

 -Give participants an expanded toolkit to draw from to build healthier more vibrant public spaces.

 -Emphasis will be made on initiatives that demonstrate inclusive, multi-modal infrastructure and placemaking concepts that can be practically applied within the community.

 

AARP’s vision of livable communities can be found at http://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/

Consider your community’s Livability Score by visiting AARP’s Livability Index which can be found at http://livabilityindex.aarp.org/

For questions about this program or guidance on how to complete a competitive application, contact Kelly Stoddard Poor at 802-951-1313 or kstoddardpoor@aarp.org.

Presentations:

Placemaking Components_Richard Amore_Gary Holloway

DIY Placemaking_Rebecca Stone

Bennington_Cat Bryars

Arts_Creative Placemaking_Michele Bailey

 

Mini-Grant RFP:

Placemaking RFP_AARP_Final

Application

Application_Placemaking Demonstration Project