The City of Holyoke and the Conway School are excited to invite the community to its first Urban Collaborative presentations on Thursday, June 12 from 6:30-7:30PM in the storefront of the Latino Professional Building, located at 225 High Street in Holyoke.

The projects to be presented were undertaken by Conway School graduate students with guidance from City and community leaders in Holyoke and Springfield over the winter and spring months, and present planning recommendations on topics such as innovative urban placemaking, green streets and urban agriculture.

In January the City of Holyoke and the Conway School announced the launch of an Urban Collaborative, which seeks to complete ecological design and planning projects in the Pioneer Valley’s urban environment, provide school alumni as a resource for the community in all sectors, recruit local residents to attend the Conway School, offer educational opportunities for the general public, and showcase innovative opportunities for redevelopment in Holyoke.

This week’s presentations showcase the Urban Collaborative’s first goal by completing local projects in the urban environment in Holyoke and Springfield, specifically:

• A “Placemaking Ideabook” for the Holyoke Innovation District
• A “Green Streets Guidebook” prepared for the Holyoke Conservation Commission
• A study of Springfield’s urban agriculture potential for the Springfield Food Policy Council

“This is a mutually beneficial collaboration between various City departments and the Conway School that will complement the exciting other initiatives taking place in Holyoke,” Mayor Alex Morse said. “The Conway School has an extended network of resources that we’re fortunate to have within our reach, and I look forward to seeing this partnership grow.”

The presentations will be part of the ongoing activities that evening in downtown, which will be hosting the “High Street After 5”, a community event organized by CRUSH and the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. Restaurants and shops along High Street will hold extended hours from 5:00 to 9:00PM.

The Conway School’s Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design was founded in 1972 and is located in Conway, Massachusetts. Through a unique and intensive 10-month program, the School graduates around nineteen students each year with a Master of Science in Ecological Design. During the program, graduate students get to work on projects with real clients at varying scales and sectors.

For more information on the Conway School and its Urban Collaborative, visit http://www.csld.edu/urban-design-collaborative.