con'text magazine 2015

con'text Magazine of The Conway School //2015//

Ecological Design in Demanding Times

The mission of The Conway School is to explore, develop, practice, and teach design of the land that is ecologically and socially sustainable.The Conway School of Landscape Design, Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit corporation organized under Chapter 180 of the General Laws, is a training school of landscape design and land use planning. As an equal opportunity institution, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital or veteran status in the administration of educational, admissions, employment, or loan policies, or in any other school-administered program.

the ConwaySchool

Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning + Design

© 2015. con'text is published by The Conway School of Landscape Design, Inc. All rights reserved.

Faculty Paul Cawood Hellmund President, Director, and Professor, Design + Planning

Ken Byrne Professor, Humanities

Kim Erslev Professor, Landscape Design + Graphics

Jono Neiger ’03 Professor, Regenerative Design

Bill Lattrell Ecology Adjunct

Anne Madocks ’00 Distinguished Teaching Fellow, Planning

Glenn Motzkin Ecology Adjunct

Keith Zaltzberg Digital Design Instructor

Master Teachers David Jacke ’84 Permaculture

Darrel Morrison Design

John O'Keefe Ecology

Keith Ross Conservation

Joel Russell Conservation Law

Erik Van Lennep ’83 Sustainability

Administration Nina Antonetti Director of Advancement + Strategic Initiatives

Adrian Dahlin Director of Admissions + Marketing

David Nordstrom ’04 Administrative Director

Priscilla Novitt ’07 Communications Manager

Past Directors Walter Cudnohufsky Founder, Director (1972–1992)

Donald Walker ’79 Director (1992–2005)

The Conway School of Landscape Design 322 S. Deerfield Road PO Box 179 Conway, MA 01341-0179 (413) 369-4044 www.csld.edu

Nicholas T. Lasoff ’05 Editor

Lilly Pereira, Murre Creative

Kristen Winstead, Sund Studio Design

Nina AntonettiKen ByrneAdrian Dahlin Paul Cawood Hellmund Nicholas T. LasoffPriscilla Novitt David Nordstrom Contributing writers

Board of Trustees Virginia Sullivan ’86, Chair Learning by the Yard Conway, MA

Keith Ross, Vice Chair LandVest Warwick, MA

Richard C. Andriole South Deerfield, MA

Mitch Anthony Clarity Northampton, MA

Rachel Bird Anderson Public Health Professional Minneapolis, MN

Michael Cavanagh ’02Cavanagh Landscape Design LLCSaunderstown, RI

Kerri Culhane ’10 Two Bridges Neighborhood Council New York, NY

Janet Curtis ’00 Union of Concerned Scientists Cambridge, MA

Carol Franklin Andropogon Associates Philadelphia, PA

Stephen Thor Johnson Sage Advisors Lincoln, MA

Carla Oleska Elms CollegeChicopee, MA

Bob Pura Greenfield Community College Greenfield, MA

Dolores Root Center for Creative Solutions Brattleboro, VT

Susan Rosenberg ’95 Canopy Palo Alto, CA

William B. Sayre Wm. B. Sayre, Inc. Williamsburg, MA

Timothy A. Umbach Northampton, MA

Seth Wilkinson ’99 Wilkinson Ecological Design Orleans, MA

Emeritus Trustees David Bird (d. 2007) Gordon H. Shaw ’89 Bruce Stedman ’78

Advisers John Hanning ’82 Montpelier, VT

Richard Hubbard Shelburne Falls, MA

David Lynch ’85 Watertown, MA

Amy Klippenstein ’95 Hawley, MA

Carrie Makover ’86 Fairfield, CT

Darrel Morrison New York, NY

Ruth Parnall Conway, MA

Joel Russell Northampton, MA

Steven Stang Simsbury, CT

//2015// con'text 1

ON THE COVER

This "canal restorer" is part of a hybrid technology developed by Dr. John Todd and his team to help clean up the Fisherville Mill site in Grafton, Massachusetts. The experimental restorer floats in contaminated canal water, providing habitat for beneficial organisms that help improve water quality. A spring 2015 Conway student team is at work on a master plan for the former brownfield site. Read more about John Todd’s restoration work on page 8. PHOTO: DAVID WEBER '15

Printed on Rolland Environment 100 Satin, an uncoated 100% post-consumer reycled paper that is processed chlorine free, EcoLogo and FSC Certified, and is manufactured using biogas energy. Printed by Hadley Printing, Holyoke, MA.

FEATURES

04 Coming Full CircleConway’s director on expanding our ability to be of greater service to the world.

08 Planetary HealingJohn Todd explores the ability of ecological design to help solve the energy, food, environmental, and infrastructural crises that the world faces.

02 From the DirectorPaul Cawood Hellmund on canal restorers, Conway’s progress, and the “Great Work.”

03 PerspectivesA recent grad shares updates from the urban front.

12 PortfolioStudent projects focus on ecosystem services, stormwater management, disaster recovery, and more.

18 CommencementMusic, a new degree, and turtles (yes, turtles).

20 PerspectivesJohn Hanning ’82 on the role of drones in design and planning.

21 Conway CurrentsNews of and from the school.

25 Annual ReportA summary of operations for the 2014 fiscal year.

DEPARTMENTS

con'text Magazine of The Conway School //2015//

FSC LOGO

A Keene, New Hampshire, parking lot is reimagined as a living system and a vibrant community space. Read more about this project by Michele Carlson '14 and Gallagher Hannan '14, as well as other students' projects, on page 12.

2 The Conway School Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning + Design

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Canal Restorers, Conway’s Progress, and the “Great Work”

The 17 Conway students were scrambling.

It was a warm September day during our

school’s 2014 fall orientation trip, and they

had been given a difficult assignment,

few instructions, and not much time.

The assignment was to design and build

devices that would float in the heavily

contaminated Blackstone Canal and help

remove hydrocarbons and excess nutri-

ents. An odd assortment of “stuff” was

their only tool—oil-absorbent booms and

some bulbs, rhizomes, and seeds. At this

site in central Massachusetts, the students

were taking part in what Dr. John Todd

calls “the great work” of “planetary heal-

ing” (see p. 8) by building machines out

of living materials to help solve a serious

environmental problem. The booms built

that day are still floating—and working—

on the Blackstone Canal. The cover of this

issue of con’text shows similar booms on

the same canal, created by Dr. Todd and

associates.

This issue of con’text is a celebration

of Conway’s contributions to ecological

design and “planetary healing” across

scales, and it also offers a promise of

things to come. That promise relates to

three very simple and

direct statements we

think about every day

at Conway: Fix what’s

broken. Save what

works. Design the future. In the work of

Conway’s graduating class of 2014 you

can see progress toward those challenges

(see Portfolio, p. 12).

The 2014 graduates were Conway’s first

to receive the degree Master of Science in

Ecological Design, but that doesn’t dimin-

ish the contributions to ecological design

and planning made by hundreds of gradu-

ates of previous years. In fact, the change

in the degree’s name confirms those con-

tributions from alums, like John Hanning ’82 (p. 20) and Emily Lubahn ’11 (at right),

who have taken up the “great work” with

laser-sharp focus and commitment.

Other signs of progress are all around.

In the process of establishing our new

satellite campus (see p. 4), we have dis-

covered many more allies and supporters.

In fact, never in its history has the Conway

School seen the level of financial support

that it has recently received (see the

Annual Report, p. 25). This support has

been expanding our institution and allow-

ing us to be of even greater service.

Conway is—and has always been—a

work in progress, maintaining its rele-

vance by responding to the very specific

needs of the times. That’s what our real-

world projects are all about. We teach this

way because we are committed to plane-

tary healing and because—no surprise to

any Conway graduate—it makes for the

most profoundly meaningful education

possible.

I think this is one of the strongest issues

of con’text. Let me know what you think!

With warmest wishes,

PAUL CAWOOD HELLMUND

“Conway is—and has always been—a work in progress, maintaining its relevance by responding to the very specific needs of the times.”

fSend a note to Paul at: hellmund@ csld.edu

PHOTO: DAVID BROOK ANDREWS

//2015// con'text 3

PerspectivesReport from a Recent Conway Graduate

After a recent talk in San Francisco, I noticed that the speaker, a national expert on tactical urbanism, had a copy of Conway’s con’text magazine in his hands. I tried not to rudely interrupt his conversa-tion, but I couldn’t contain my excitement! It turns out that the person with whom he was speaking had given him the magazine. So on the spot I met Aitan Mizrahi, a member of Conway’s class of 2015. ¨

I am currently working with Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF). We are partnering with San Francisco’s planning department to make the first urban forest plan. Last year a friend and I produced a call-to-action video about the

Tenderloin neighborhood of the city. I’ve been living in this neighborhood for three years, watching the tech compa-nies move in, wondering how I could tap their financial resources to improve street conditions. This June, I will work with FUF to launch #techplantssf, its second program. We’re partnering with the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, a stakeholder located at the juxtaposition of the Tenderloin and Civic Center (with an under-publi-cized street-level green roof!). ¨

On the urban-ag front my team and I have just launched a food systems nonprofit focused on hyperlocal growing for schools and businesses. Our “Urban Farmacy” currently develops curricula for schools in line with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) standards and applied learning tech-niques, while building ecological aware-ness. We plan to grow our services over the next six months to cater to businesses that want food systems on corporate campuses, in restaurants, and offices. We will design, build, and operate the food systems. Our goals include generating revenue while tapping into tech money and providing students who go through our program with jobs as managers and operators of food systems at the businesses.

Our first pilot project is a partner-ship with the Sustainable Urban Design Academy, where we are in four classes in the tenth and eleventh grades teach-ing students how to build hydroponic systems. These systems will soon replace the former ROTC gun range on cam-pus—the Guns 2 Gardens project. We swooped in after an aquaponics partner backed out. Our first day in the class-room started with kids saying they don’t do math, and ended with the very same students completing complex equations to determine water flow in the hydro-ponic system they are now building. Applied learning at its best! ¨

Notes from the Urban Front

Students in the Guns 2 Gardens program plant greens in the hydroponic garden they designed and built. The students enjoyed the harvest of the first crop in class, and will experiment with creating value-added products using the second crop. PHOTO: EMILY LUBAHN

BY EMILY LUBAHN ’11

Emily Lubahn


"The bigger story is that we are expanding our ability to be of greater service to the world."

—PAUL CAWOOD HELLMUND

In September 2015, The Conway School will open a second campus in a renovated mill building in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

The building affords dramatic views of the Mount Tom range.

//2015// con'text 5

Over the last two years members of the Conway School com-munity have committed more than a million dollars to support the initial components of the school’s ambitious strategic plan, now being implemented. Our new urban campus is currently under construction and the first class will enroll this coming fall.

While creating this satellite campus, in nearby Easthampton, Massachusetts, is a significant step in our school’s history, the bigger story is that we are expanding our ability—on both campuses—to be of greater service to the world. Ecological design—as practiced by our graduates—has never been more needed by the planet as it faces climate destabilization and other unprecedented challenges in fitting human needs to shifting ecologies. The new campus will allow us to educate additional ecological designers and also adapt our teaching model to a new, more urban locale.

Expanding Conway’s facilities and enrollment is just one part of our strategic plan to be of greater service. As part of that plan, in recent years we have taken on a wider range of student projects, both topically and geographically; changed the name of our degree to Master of Science in Ecological Design, which clarifies the broader professional abilities of our graduates; and have been developing a wider network of like-minded partners and supporters. The response to these changes has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.

Rising to urgent needsIt’s hard to overlook how urgently changes are needed in the world; there are too many daily reminders. And there are sig-nificant ways in which a Conway-educated designer/planner can address important issues, such as climate destabilization, species loss, rapid urbanization, and food insecurity.

In April 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made an insightful connection between site design and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. They wrote: “While smaller scale spatial planning may not have the energy con-servation or emissions reduction benefits of larger scale ones, development tends to occur parcel by parcel and urbanized areas are ultimately the products of thousands of individ-ual site-level development and design decisions.” (Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, Chapter 12, p. 5, emphasis added.)

Furthermore, they noted, as quoted in the New York Times (“Climate Efforts Falling Short, U.N. Panel Says” by Justin Gillis, April 13, 2014) that “Though it remains technically possible to keep planetary warming to a tolerable level, only an intensive push over the next 15 years to bring those [greenhouse gas] emissions under control can we achieve the goal [of averting profound risks in coming decades]...” (emphasis added).

Coming Full Circle

BY PAUL CAWOOD HELLMUND

Conway's Director on replicating the

School’s timely model

One Million Dollars Raised to Create New Campus and Improve Main Campus


The IPCC is reminding us of the need to make changes at all scales, and also pay special attention to the thousands of often overlooked individual site-design decisions, such as the kinds Conway graduates regularly make. Carefully made, such deci-sions have the cumulative potential of making a meaningful contribution to addressing global issues.

Special opportunities in citiesResponding to climate change and its attendant challenges is especially important in cities because urban populations are increasing around the world. Cities will need considerable design and planning help if they are to be more livable and capable of supporting and nurturing expanding populations. Since the school’s beginning, Conway students have worked on urban projects (see con’text 2014). Having a more visible cam-pus in a metropolitan region will help us more readily make connections—for both campuses—with project clients and supporters who care about urban and metropolitan design.

In December 2014, we signed a two-year lease for space in Mill 180, a former mill building in Easthampton, Massachusetts. This new location complements our main campus in Conway; it will support those students who need or prefer to have access to public transportation or who already live in the Springfield–Hartford region and would like to commute to school from home. The Hartford–Springfield Metropolitan Area is the second most populous region in New England, with approximately 1.9 million residents. This region,

nicknamed the Knowledge Corridor, is home to 32 universities and colleges, and approximately 160,000 university students.

The former mill town of Easthampton shares a border with the city of Holyoke and is only a short distance from Springfield, Chicopee, and Westfield. These latter four are Massachusetts Gateway Cities, “midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies,” facing "stubborn social and economic challenges" while retaining “many assets with unrealized potential, including existing infrastructure and strong connections to transportation networks, museums, hospitals, universities, and other major institutions, disproportionately young and underutilized work-ers, and perhaps above all, authentic urban fabric” (see www.massinc.org/Programs/Gateway-Cities/About-the-Gateway-Cities). These challenges and opportunities are ones they share with many other cities around the country.

We have signed cooperative agreements to work on projects with the cities of Holyoke and Easthampton and hope to have additional arrangements with other communities in the region facing similar social and economic challenges.

Replicating a timely modelConway’s educational model is ready for wider application. Its ten-month, intensive educational approach has proven itself, both through the quality of the projects our students accomplish and the professional contributions they make as graduates. Creating the satellite campus is part of the process of putting our educational model to a new test. We know how well it has worked over the last four decades, and we are confident it can be useful to a broader audience. We are also using the process ahead to document the core aspects of the Conway approach. Already we have seen how planning that campus has helped us clarify our processes and intentions at the main campus.

The advantages of two campusesIn Easthampton we will have a new home base that is a small, post-industrial city in the Pioneer Valley, close enough for administrative support from Conway, but still in a distinct part of a metropolitan area, with ready access to project opportu-nities in nearby cities. Easthampton has public transportation (bus) and ready access to a bike path (Manhan Rail Trail) that

A lower portion of the roof of Mill 180 will have a green roof. Here Mike Michon (on left), the building's owner and developer, gives Conway board members Rick Andriole and Tim Umbach and Administrative Director Dave Nordstrom a tour of the upper roof.

Construction is underway at our new 3000 square foot facility in Easthampton. The space above, which has 13.5-foot ceilings and new, energy-efficient windows, will house student work stations, a library, and a flexible presentation space.

//2015// con'text 7

is part of an extensive regional system. From Easthampton to an Amtrak station is a 25-minute bike ride. A grocery store and other amenities are minutes away by foot.

This new satellite campus will support our desire to be more integrated into the region, and be more visible to a larger potential network of partners. Starting in the winter of 2015, we are hosting a public lecture series (Smaller Cities | Greener Futures) in various communities across the metropolitan region. Being more visible will allow us to attract more project clients and supporters for the institution as a whole.

Our two campuses will have separate faculties (experienced with the Conway approach and professional practice) and student cohorts, but both will follow the same educational approach, with a major emphasis on completing real projects for real clients. Students at both campuses can be assured they will get the same proven Conway education, and having two campuses will provide them a choice of setting. On our main campus, students will remain—as students from across four decades have been—enveloped in the woods of the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. Just steps away from the school are trails and opportunities to explore this rural landscape.

In Easthampton there are also trails. They are more urban, providing access to a wide range of urban amenities, including housing, museums, and public transportation.

As we envision it, the two campuses will complement and strengthen each other, and the institution as a whole will be made even stronger. The urban campus will provide Conway a presence visible to a larger population, and it will serve as a convenient meeting location for larger audiences and events. Our main campus will provide a quiet sylvan setting, well suited for smaller gatherings, such as retreats, and working away for urban distractions.

Coming full circle: two complementary campusesConway’s founder, Walt Cudnohufsky, had initially considered an urban setting for his school. He writes, “From the first hours of conception of the school, it was imagined in a city setting with the libraries, support services, and activities available to most colleges and universities. The economic reality required that it begin in a retrofitted barn in Conway.” He has great appreciation for the nurturing setting the town of Conway has supplied for the school for more than 40 years, but he does see things coming “full circle” as we add this new campus.

Even as interest in the urban campus option is growing among applicants, interest remains in the main campus as a

beautiful educational setting in which to study. In keeping with this multi-faceted approach, the main campus building has received some important upgrades over the last year. A major renovation of the school’s entryway gives it year-round climate control

and operable windows. New ovens are now at work in the kitchen, a new wood stove has been added to the library, and the entire building has been wired for direct Internet access.

The timing for Conway’s urban expansion—and other elements of our strategic plan—is especially propitious. We know there is much hard work ahead. But we are committed to expanding our ability to make significant contributions to the planet and our students and alums.

Please visit us—at either campus—and know that your support—and example—are greatly appreciated and vital to Conway’s success. -

A major renovation of the entryway at the main campus (at left) gives it year-round climate control and operable windows. A fire door salvaged from Mill 180 (at right) will be reused as a magnetic pin-up space in the new Easthampton facility.

‘ See Walt’s full comments at tinyurl.com/WaltComments

"Carefully made, such [individual site-design] decisions have the cumulative potential of making a meaningful contribution to addressing global issues." —UNITED NATIONS INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE


The title of this talk is Planetary Healing: Facilitating the Great Work through Ecological Design. I think most of us are aware that the future is largely unknow-able. We do know that it is going to be unpredictable and most likely chaotic. It also appears to be increasingly inequitable. Fewer and fewer people have more and more of the resources. This seems to be a global phenomenon. Additionally, as a civilization, we are increasingly becoming resource-constrained.

For example, modern industrial agriculture is totally dependent on rock phos-phates as a primary source of fertilizer. Around the world rock phosphates are running out. Much of the planet doesn’t have any. On this point alone, our ability to feed ourselves is going to be restricted beginning around 2025 at the latest.

This news could make one depressed—except, something else is going on. There are alternatives. There is a powerful counter current taking place, namely an explosion of information around the world. It is remarkable how almost all of history and all of science and technology going back for thousands of years is becoming available electronically. The knowledge in our informational toolbox is exploding. I would argue that as we lose physical resources, whether they are metals, oil, rock minerals, or other materials, we may be able to substitute for them with informational equivalents. And the good news is that information can become a substitute for scarce resources.

Facilitating the Great Work through Ecological Design

2014 CONWAY SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

PHOTO: AMY NYMAN ’13

Planetary H E A L I N G

BY JOHN TODD

//2015// con'text 9

The challenge for our times is planetary healing. It is, in the language of the alchemists of old, the "Great Work" of our time. And this work will involve stabilizing the climate, restoring the soils and the waters (including the inshore oceans) enhanc-ing wild nature and, of course, feeding billions of humans. In order to accomplish this task we’re going to have to develop technological systems that protect and do not destroy the great ecosystems that sustain us. This is going to be one of the cen-tral challenges, along with that of carbon neutrality, we face as a design principle. There is a necessity for a new relationship between humans and nature, and I’m excited that this is the direction that Conway has chosen to pioneer. I am really hon-ored to be here because of it.

How are we going to acquire this knowledge? This is at the crux of what I want to talk about. First of all we need to begin with evolution’s legacy, which is a remarkable story. For the last three and a half billion years, life on Earth has been evolv-ing. It has been adapting, changing, and experimenting. It does this within the context of the great guilds we call ecosystems. Most of us, including myself, have been taught to think that evolution is strictly Darwinian through adaptation, mutation, and natural selection. This is all very true, but it is a small piece of a vast story that includes all of life coevolving. As we begin to explore coevolution and understand its mysteries, we can begin to seek new ways of thinking about solving our problems here on Earth.

I believe that we are at a historic turning point, and that we are beginning to discover nature’s operating instructions. We’re beginning to decode the language of the living world and apply it to the healing of the planet. It is the Great Work if you will. This knowledge is all very recent, and hasn’t yet per-colated into popular consciousness, but as we begin to under-stand the language of nature, we also can begin to develop new living technologies—the machines of the future. Such machines employ the intelligence of the living world as well as the genius of evolution. Already, and it is still early days, living technologies we are calling eco-machines have been designed to generate fuels, grow foods, detoxify waste, treat sewage, purify air, restore damaged soils, and heal wounded environ-ments. They have been tested and tried throughout the world.

I would like to describe just a few of these living technol-ogies in order to introduce you to this world, using actual projects I have been involved in over the last few decades.

A number of years ago on Cape Cod, I came across a fetid impoundment at a landfill. To some it looked like a scene from Dante’s Inferno. It was dug into the coarse sand and smelled foul. I discovered that it contained many of the priority pollutants or harmful chemicals listed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The unlined pond captured the wastes of a nearby town. They included wastes from houses, small businesses, medical clinics, and retirement homes, as well as veterinary clinics. The worst aspect was that the pond was only feet above the aquifer that provided drinking water for the town. It was not an isolated case. I have seen such situa-tions all over the world. We are literally poisoning ourselves as a culture. I decided then and there to try to figure out how to treat these chemicals using ecological principles. Conventional civil engineering methodologies simply could not do so in a cost effective and safe manner. I concluded that no individ-ual on Earth actually knew how to clean up such foul water. However I reasoned that diverse life acting in concert might be able to do the impossible.

I set out to create a new technology by taking my cue from nature. As almost everything on Earth is powered by sunshine I planned to follow suit and to build a solar technology. Since the waste was liquid, I optimized the amount of sunshine that could penetrate the water. To do so my colleagues and I built a system at the landfill that was made up of twenty-one trans-lucent aquaria or tanks that were five feet tall and five feet in diameter. Each held about 700 gallons. They were connected together with piping to form a kind of river. Sunshine pene-trated the sides as well as the surface of the tanks.

We did not know what life forms could survive in the waste or detoxify the chemicals or kill the pathogens it contained. So I collected thousands of species of life forms from over a dozen environments such as salt marshes, a farm pig wallow, wet areas in the woods, ponds, streams, and bogs. I then carried this great diversity of life, even some fishes, and dumped them into the solar tanks. I introduced this large amount of biodi-versity, because I knew from experience that nature is capable

"There is a necessity for a new relationship between humans and nature, and I’m excited that this is the direction that Conway has chosen to pioneer."John Todd and his team designed innovative ecological technologies for waste

streams in informal settlements in South Africa, such as Langrug in the Western Cape region, where residents, above, participated in a community meeting. PHOTO: JOHN TODD

BY JOHN TODD


of invention. There was yet another dimension to the design. Within the system I created physical analogs of a stream, a marsh, and a pond and connected them to create three distinct ecological elements. When the ecological elements within the system began to self organize and self-design I started to pump in the toxic waste, slowly at first and then more rapidly as it began to adapt. Within weeks, incredible ecologies began to develop that included amazing algae-based communities on the walls of the tanks.

I asked Lynn Margulis, who in my view was one of the great-est biologists of the second half of the twentieth century, to visit with her students. I wanted them to look inside the tanks and tell me what they were seeing. They told me, “We recognize the species of organisms. We can identify most of them. But we’ve never seen the communities before. They are new.” Also, each of the tanks was different. In the presence of the large amount of biodiversity, life self-organized at each stage in the transfor-mation process from waste to pure water. The chemicals and life forms were co-adapting in a step-by-step manner. By the end of the treatment process, which lasted on average ten days, the chemicals, with the exception of one that was 99.9 percent removed, the pollutants were completely gone from the water. Heavy metals were sequestered in the first few tanks, mostly in the algae-dominated communities that had formed on the tank walls. The results initially were received with skepticism, so

the original experiment was followed up with a multi-million dollar demonstration project of the technology. In the end, it became a permitted technology. What we learned from the experience is that we can do amazing things in very hazardous places utilizing the wisdom of ecology. Another of my other examples is from a quite different place.

Working with nature requires going into the wild, immers-ing yourself in an ecosystem, and asking yourself questions like: What is the system doing? How does it do it? What is its architecture? Where are the pathways that allow energy and nutrients to flow through it? What are the relationships between the forms of life within the ecology?

For years, wanting to understand the inshore waters near Woods Hole on Cape Cod, I had observed eelgrass communities in the ocean. Doing so I began to understand why the eelgrass communities are the nurseries of the oceans, how they purify water, why they slow currents, and how they develop rich sediments. I started to see how the different life forms with the marine grasses interact. As I made a list of their relationships and architectures, I reached the point when it dawned on me that I could use my knowledge of the eelgrass community to design food-culturing systems that would be its analogs. The first of these was a freshwater system in two greenhouses at the University of Vermont. I used a mixture of living aquatic plants and artificial media to mimic the eelgrass community.

Conway students design and construct a canal restorer from oil-absorbent booms, flowering bulbs, iris rhizomes, seed heads and other plants from the site. This canal restorer is part of an innovative system designed by John Todd to remove hydrocarbons and nutrients from the Blackstone River and Canal.” PHOTO: RACHEL LINDSAY ’15

//2015// con'text 11

The engineered ecosystem worked as a powerful community that produced over half a dozen aquatic and terrestrial foods that ranged from fish to tomatoes. For nutrients we used liquid wastes from a brewery to fertilize the system. This eel-grass-inspired, living technology turned out to be one of the most energetically efficient food systems ever designed and opened a future for intensive urban agriculture that is truly ecological.

The third experience I want to discuss involved coming up against the fossil fuel industry. Through my work I had come face to face with the disaster of mountaintop removal and valley fill coal mining in Appalachia. For several years I had studied its impact on the ecology of the region. The more I learned the more depressed I became, as did my two young colleagues. As a consequence we chose to work on ways to rehabilitate the over one million acres of land that had been destroyed. We also chose to link the restoration work with one of the greatest problems on the Earth, the slow loss of carbon from our soils over the last ten thousand years. Soil carbon loss is helping to destabilize climate. Our plan was to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and create new soils on the bedrock of the abandoned mining sites. One of my graduate students and I decided to attempt to create a soil-build-ing ecology on top of bedrock on a mining site in West Virginia. Our allies were to be the warm-season, perennial grasses. Different species of these grasses have varying abilities to allow their roots to penetrate into soil and bedrock cracks. We also added legumes for extracting essential nitrogen from the atmosphere. To this mix of plants we added a stable source of carbon in the form a special charcoal made from burning wood under low temperature and oxygen conditions. People of the Amazon discovered mil-lennia ago that such a charcoal material could assist in creating rich soils in normally infertile areas.

We were combining knowledge of the prairie and grafting it to ancient wisdom to create a scaffold for soil life. Further we added fungi species to the mix based upon modern discoveries of their role in the formation of soils. Finally, from modern chemical agricul-ture we borrowed a one-time infusion of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus fertilizer and added it to the test plots.

All these elements worked in combi-nation. Within a year, an extraordinary meadow was growing on the site. Soils were beginning to form and carbon was being sequestered. It made me realize, given sufficient moisture, humanity now has the ability to go into places where real soils do not currently exist, extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in newly forming soils. Throughout the world people are begin-ning to carry out work of a comparable nature. A movement to heal the planet through soil and agriculture is develop-ing rapidly.

The final story that I want to tell you about is a more recent one. It is described more fully in Nancy Jack Todd’s publica-tion, Annals of Earth. Last year we went to South Africa, where Nancy was born and had her early schooling. It was her first visit since the emergence of a multi-racial society there. We found ourselves with a group of South African partners visiting slums called informal settle-ments. Many are relatively large and populous. There was little infrastructure beyond electricity with great tangles of wires going every which way.

Water and sewage infrastructure was almost nonexistent and there were only a few rudimentary public toilet facilities and community water taps. Raw sewage runs down the streets and children play in this fetid and danger-ous environment. During the rainy season the slum becomes hazardous to the health of the people there. We felt obliged to create a totally new kind of infrastructure for them. With our South African partners we learned that conventional technologies wouldn’t work, because any wire, pump, valve, or air compressor you installed as part of a technological solution would disappear. Several communities had had conven-tional sewage systems installed but the technical components had been stolen. The question for us became—and this is where the design framework gets really interesting—how can we create invisible technologies, ones nobody knows are there? These would be technologies that do not use pumps, compressors, or aerators and the like. They would be invisible. We wanted to learn to tap into more subtle energies like gravity and slope, and use thin films that would create exchanges between the wastewa-ter and the atmosphere. We wanted to

utilize the power of higher plants to feed microbial life and pump oxygen into aquatic environments.

There was no single answer for us, but there were a number of small technol-ogies that we could place within and throughout the community to purify their wastes. To do so, we designed small Eco-Machines that each housed a single fruit tree to mask its purification role, as well as a miniature wetland to capture and treat wastes flowing in the streets. In our designs we connected the ele-ments within the community by small-flow pathways capable of dealing with the dry and wet seasons equally. The whole system evolved into a dendritic pattern reminiscent of the branches of a tree. As a team we designed with the idea that information could largely replace hardware and created a system that could be built primarily by members of the community. It would be mechani-cally simple and ecologically complex.

The government of the Western Cape Province has decided to utilize our approach, starting in early 2015. Although many engineers would have run away from this project and our approach to design, the idea of ecolog-ical intelligence in design may hold the key to the future for most of humanity. Ecological intelligence involves new ways of thinking about energy, light, flows, and the power of nature. As you may now realize the frontiers for eco-logical design are really limitless. All of us need to become more knowledgeable about evolution and ecological pro-cesses. And if we do, our design toolbox will expand and aid us in the larger role of planetary stewardship.

I am really honored to be at this commencement ceremony. Conway is the first institution to have the fore-sight and the courage to understand the integrative power of ecological design and its ability to help solve the energy, food, environmental, and infrastruc-tural crises that the world faces. This is really the first graduate degree in this field of ecological knowledge and global healing. Other institutions are preparing to embrace ecological design as a field of inquiry and instruction. But the real courage to define the task and embrace it took place here. You, the graduating class, are defining the task ahead—for yourselves, and for all of us.

Thank you. -


PortfolioStudents’ Projects: 2013–2014

Fix what’s broken. Save what works. Design the future.Conway is dedicated to working with communities in the face of climate change and other major challenges. Across a continuum from regional to urban to rural, we seek projects that aim to fix what’s broken as we work to repair ecologies, food systems, public spaces, and landscapes of all kinds. We seek projects that help identify and save what’s working, in healthy neighborhoods and biodiversity-rich, working, and historic landscapes. We seek to design the future by finding inno-vative solutions that address important spatial design and planning issues: climate destabilization, biodiversity loss, food security, environmental justice, water shortages, and flooding.

The Path

Path Vista

Eastern loop

Meadow To Wyman Woods or The Perch

Easternloop

The Perch

Sedges or No-Mow GrassSalem

Harbor

The proposed design, below, accommodates passive recreation for all abilities, with scenic lookouts for visitors and connections to nearby trails. The entire site is universally accessible, with trails bringing visitors to destination spots like the “perch,” a lookout that enjoys views over Salem Harbor.

Perch and Lookout Section

LEAD MILLS CONSERVATION AREA DESIGNMARBLEHEAD AND SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS | SPRING 2014

The Chadwick Lead Mills Conservation Area was once home to

mills that contaminated the soils on site with large amounts of

lead. Following a series of remediation efforts to stabilize the

soils, the two communities sought design alternatives to support

a range of potential passive recreational activities, and

connect the property to nearby conservation land and the

Salem–Marblehead bike trail.

Student team Emily Berg, Jeffrey Dawson, and Allison Ruschp

proposed a site design that includes a universally accessible loop

trail and diverse native meadow and grass species.

At left top (left and right): The student team held two public meetings to help them understand the community’s desires and concerns for the site, at left, bottom, outlined with orange dotted line, and to get feedback on proposed design alternatives.

//2015// con'text 13

/ PORTFOLIO /

GREEN STREETS GUIDEBOOKHOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS | WINTER 2014

RECIPIENT OF 2015 BOSTON SOCIETY OF

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS STUDENT MERIT AWARD

Like many older cities, Holyoke has a combined

sewer system which, during heavy storms, causes

sewage and stormwater to overflow into the nearby

Connecticut River, posing ecological and human

health risks. As the city is poised to complete a

number of revitalization projects and faces EPA

regulations to reduce its combined sewer overflows

and polluted stormwater discharges, greening

streets may be a way to address some of the eco-

logical, social, and economic issues facing Holyoke.

The Green Streets Guidebook is intended to

help policymakers and developers create healthier,

more vibrant streetscapes. The 64-page document

includes a toolbox with recommended green infra-

structure, complete streets, and placemaking strat-

egies; a set of nine design templates representative

of a variety of Holyoke’s street characteristics that

can be applied to and modified for future projects;

a site-specific application of Green Street design

principles to a likely redevelopment area down-

town; an exploration of relative costs and benefits;

and recommended next steps for implementation.

The images at right and below are select

elements from the final document, produced by

Michele Carlson, Willa Caughey, and Nelle Ward.

A professor at Holyoke Community College

(HCC) has been using the report in his environmen-

tal science classes this year. A group of his students

incorporated the book’s principles into a study of

Tannery Brook, a stream that flows through the

HCC campus and into the Connecticut River. They

presented their findings on campus and made

recommendations as to how HCC could improve its

stormwater management practices.

You can view the report online, where readers

so far have spent a cumulative total of more than

two days reading the document: csld.edu/project/

student-projects/green-cities/

Design Templates The Conway student team developed nine design templates, representing a variety of street characteristics found in Holyoke, that can be applied and adapted to future projects.

A sample template from the Conway student project incorporates shaded mini-parks and local street art.

Site-specific Designs The team applied the templates to actual streets in downtown Holyoke. The above examples demonstrate how the templates might be applied to High Street, Holyoke’s primary commercial street, and Division Street, an infrequently used side street.


/ PORTFOLIO /

LISTENING TO THE LANDSCAPESHERBORN, MASSACHUSETTS | SPRING 2014

Natural gas pipelines, an industrial railroad,

and electricity transmission lines all dissect

and fragment the Barber Reservation, a

200-acre, town-owned forest in Sherborn,

Massachusetts. A land management plan by

Emily Davis and Brandon Tennis identifies

important ecosystem services provided by the

property and gives recommendations on how

those ecological services can be improved,

while also accommodating the need for pas-

sive recreation and periodic disturbance by

utility companies.

The student team proposed maintaining a

“dynamic landscape buffer” in the low-lying

area surrounding an existing beaver pond on

the site. Since the beaver habitat cycle sug-

gests that beaver pond migration and expan-

sion may occur in this area, minimizing impact,

disturbance, and infrastructure in the buffer

could help minimize property damage.

Woodland StreamChannelized woodland streams are good beaver habitat, especially when the forest contains vegetation that beavers like to eat, like red maple.

A Beaver PondOnce beavers enter a location they begin digging channels, building dams and lodges, and pooling water so they have access to food. But when their ponds no longer provide enough food, or when their dams fail, they leave the site.

A Beaver MeadowEventually, the old pond drains and plant succession takes over, taking advantage of the rich soil that was created by the beaver pond. This community of herbaceous plants in a wet meadow is valuable habitat for birds and woodland species. With time, woodier plants take hold and these areas revert to woodlands.

BEAVER HABITAT CYCLES

A SUSTAINABLE REVIVALPALO, LEYTE, PHILIPPINES | SPRING 2014

An exploratory report prepared for the non-profit

organization Kusog Tacloban by Trevor Buckley and

Marie Macchiarolo proposes a process and strategy

for developing regional environmental standards and a

neighborhood toolkit for “building back better” in Leyte

Province, Philippines, after the devastation of Super

Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.

Kusog Tacloban hopes to involve residents and

non-experts in planning and environmental site assess-

ment at the barangay (neighborhood) level. The stu-

dent team proposes a conceptual framework for such

involvement, including recommendations for education

on environmental conditions and hazard risks, both sci-

entific and local knowledge, and participatory planning

that links into the municipal planning system and can

be used for community-based development. Within

this framework, environmental standards, a toolkit, and

participatory planning strategies could engage local

residents, barangay officials, and non-experts in making

ecologically informed land use decisions.

“ [In the report] I could hear all the voices of the people you talked to in Leyte, and I think that’s what makes it so good—that you listened to the people, incorporated their voices, and allowed your own solid expertise and knowledge be guided by that.”—MARIE APOSTOL, KUSOG TACLOBAN

//2015// con'text 15

/ PORTFOLIO /

PLACEMAKING IN HOLYOKEHOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS | WINTER 2014

In their placemaking ideabook for Holyoke, Emily Davis, Jeffrey Dawson, and

Elizabeth Kelly make the case that the model of ecological succession has a great deal

in common with the development of urban spaces through time. Disturbances on various

scales, such as the forest fire shown below, make for opportunities that create a dynamic

equilibrium. Building on successful examples from other cities and on existing projects in

Holyoke, the report recommends various strategies, at multiple scales and time-frames,

to help create dynamic public spaces.

LAMPSON BROOK FARM MASTER PLANBELCHERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS | SPRING 2014

Over the past 36 years, the New England Small Farm Institute (NESFI) has established itself as a leader in small farm development and

local food advocacy in Massachusetts and throughout the world. Yet, due to insecure land tenure and limited funds, the organization has

been unable to develop Lampson Brook Farm into a place that reflects its values and practices. NESFI is working with local organiza-

tions, including the student team from the Conway School, to help develop a vision for the site that demonstrates and further promotes

community engagement and financial stability.

Willa Caughey and Elizabeth Kelly prepared a master plan for the core six acres of the NESFI property. The preferred design, a

section of which is shown below, creates a new gateway to the farm that offers flexible spaces for people to gather, connect with

nature, and learn about food production.

N0 ft

100 ft

Check dams in steeper areas of the dry creek stabilize slope and create a series of small waterfalls during rain events.

Garden beds and shrubs enclose a new community garden.

Shrubs enclose deck and create privacy.

Perennial gardens frame a grassy

mowed area

Shade tree

Mowed area Deck extends from First Barn

Granite check dams slow water and prevent erosion in areas with slopes

greater than 2%

Adjacent shade-tolerant vegetation helps clean and slow water

Gravel forms the basis of the

excavated dry creek

Horse Barn

community kitchen

keyhole kitchen garden

mowed gathering

area

events field

deck & trellis

orchard

parkinglot

welcome gardens

dry creek

bioswales


/ PORTFOLIO /

“[The student team] was engaged and inquisitive, and helped us frame key decisions. They established working relationships around the community quickly, and organized and ran a robust community meeting.” —KEN STEWART, PROJECT CLIENT, ASHUELOT GREENSPACE LANDSCAPE PLAN

ASHUELOT GREENSPACE LANDSCAPE PLANKEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE | WINTER 2014 + SPRING 2014

CLIENTS: JRR PROPERTIES LLC

WINTER TEAM: GALLAGHER HANNAN, ALLISON RUSCHP

SPRING TEAM: MICHELE CARLSON, GALLAGHER HANNAN

IN BRIEF: Transformation of an abandoned 3.5-acre parking

lot into a riverfront greenspace and recreation hub, flexible

community event space, natural playground, and functioning

riparian zone. See more about this project inside the front

cover of this magazine.

BRATTLEBORO AREA JEWISH COMMUNITY LANDSCAPE PLANWEST BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT | FALL 2013

CLIENTS: BRATTLEBORO AREA JEWISH COMMUNITY

STUDENT DESIGNER: BRANDON TENNIS

IN BRIEF: A nature preserve that maximizes the feeling of

prospect and refuge, establishes multiple outdoor rooms,

and provides the congregation with passage across steep

slopes to previously inaccessible land.

LEICESTER OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION PLAN UPDATELEICESTER, MASSACHUSETTS | WINTER 2014

CLIENTS: TOWN OF LEICESTER

STUDENT TEAM: TEODORO SENNI, BRANDON TENNIS

IN BRIEF: This update to the town’s open space and recreation

plan focuses on new strategies for conservation and public land

management in the “new normal” of today’s economic climate.

JUST ROOTS LANDSCAPE PLANGREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS | FALL 2013

CLIENTS: JUST ROOTS AT THE GREENFIELD COMMUNITY FARM

STUDENT DESIGNER: MARIE MACCHIAROLO

IN BRIEF: A design for this community farm models a

beneficial relationship between agriculture and land

conservation by protecting priority habitats with the

rerouting of trails, improving pedestrian safety, providing

a space for community members to connect, and

producing energy on site.

Real projects for real clients form the core of Conway’s intensive ten-month curriculum. In the fall, each student is assigned an individual project for a residential or small municipal site. Teams in the winter tackle larger land planning projects at a regional or town-wide scale. The spring’s team projects focus on an intermediate and more detailed community scale. Find complete project reports online at: tinyurl.com/2013-2014projects

//2015// con'text 17

/ PORTFOLIO /

SUITABILITY STUDY FOR PROPOSED AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTSOUTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS | FALL 2013

CLIENTS: PIONEER VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

STUDENT DESIGNER: GALLAGHER HANNAN

IN BRIEF: Southampton, Massachusetts, needs more affordable

housing to comply with Massachusetts Law 40B, and is assess-

ing different town-owned sites for their suitability. The focus of

this study was a six-acre lot separated from the road by steep

slopes of over 30 percent and an intermittent stream. The project

involved siting several possible access roads and researching the

appropriateness of cluster housing for this development.

MOUNT CEMETERY LANDSCAPE PLANCHESTERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS | FALL 2013

CLIENTS: TOWN OF CHESTERFIELD

STUDENT DESIGNER: TREVOR BUCKLEY

IN BRIEF: This landscape plan integrates historic and proposed

new green burial areas, as it enhances the property with gardens

for contemplation that include native plant communities. The plan

set includes a study of soil contamination issues associated with

cemetery design and burial practices.

MARLBORO COLLEGE CAMPUS CORE REDESIGNMARLBORO, VERMONT | SPRING 2014

CLIENTS: MARLBORO COLLEGE

STUDENT TEAM: ABIGAIL ELWOOD, NELLE WARD

IN BRIEF: A redesign of the college’s car-centric campus

core consolidates and decentralizes vehicular use and

access, creates a more inviting landscape for pedestrians,

and slows stormwater runoff with a series of terraces and

retaining walls.

IRELAND CEMETERY LANDSCAPE PLANCHESTERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS | FALL 2013

CLIENTS: IRELAND STREET CEMETERY

STUDENT DESIGNER: MICHELE CARLSON

IN BRIEF: Cemetery trustees decided to expand this small,

historic cemetery to include a dedicated green burial area.

This landscape design incorporates low-maintenance native

plantings, paths, and seating for pedestrians, and access for

maintenance vehicles.

FOOD IN THE CITYSPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS | WINTER 2014

CLIENTS: SPRINGFIELD FOOD POLICY COUNCIL URBAN

AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE | STUDENT TEAM: EMILY BERG,

ABIGAIL ELWOOD, MARIE MACCHIAROLO

IN BRIEF: A Geographic Information Systems-based process

developed by the student team for Springfield is used to

evaluate the suitablility of land for community gardens, farms,

and orchards. The process offers a model for other urban

agriculture plans.

VALLEY RAILROAD STATE PARK SCENIC CORRIDOR STUDYESSEX, CONNECTICUT | WINTER 2014

CLIENTS: LOWER CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY COUNCIL OF

GOVERNMENTS (RIVERCOG)

STUDENT TEAM: TREVOR BUCKLEY, CHRISTIAN JOHNSON

IN BRIEF: This study examines the potential for a multiuse

trail along the northern nine miles of the Valley Railroad

corridor in south central Connecticut. The study is one

of several to be commissioned by the RiverCOG that will

examine the Connecticut Valley Railroad State Park’s role

as a regional asset and how it factors into regional plan-

ning efforts related to transportation, conservation, and

economic development. This report analyzes the regional

context and existing conditions along the corridor, and

provides several conceptual designs and design guidelines

for developing a trail, including one that could replace the

existing rail and another that could be built along the rail.


Just over a hundred friends, family members, and alumni gathered under the tent atop Conway’s hilltop campus to celebrate the accomplishments of the school’s forty-second graduating class, the first to receive a Master of Science in Ecological Design.

It was an unusually musical ceremony, featuring not one but two musical inter-ludes. A quintet of singers (including a member of the graduating class, a faculty member, the teenage son of a faculty member, a staff member, and an alum) regaled the crowd with a lighthearted interpretation of the gospel song The Storm is Passing

Over. The graduates also shared a musical offering: members of the class wrote a special song for the occasion, which featured a rousing chorus and lyrics that may resonate with many Conway alums. (Excerpts for your consideration: “Observations, implications, what’s this project all about? Real world projects, real world clients, real results will come about,” and, “What so whats? The printer’s

broken! Am I going to lose my mind? I’ve been called to class by cow bell for what feels like all my life.”)

Between songs, attendees heard from John Todd, a world-renowned pioneer in the field of ecological design, who delivered the keynote address (see p. 8).

Director and President Paul Cawood Hellmund also spoke, highlighting the

special distinction conferred on this group of graduates: they are the first to receive Conway’s new degree—a Master of Science in Ecological Design. “The new name fits what the graduate program has grown to become over recent years. The applied nature of the program is better represented by ‘master of science’ than the previous ‘master of arts,’ and ‘ecological design’ does a much better job conveying the whole-systems approach we practice.” He applauded the graduates as a “new generation of environmental leaders” and shared many of their accomplishments over the course of the year: through their work at Conway, they have helped to

First Class to Receive Master of Science in Ecological Design

GraduationClass of 2014

Class of 2014 at graduation, in front of the Amelanchier canadensis they planted as a class gift to the school: standing, left to right, Jeffrey Dawson, Trevor Buckley, Gallagher Hannan, Teodoro Senni, Abigail Elwood, Christian Johnson, Brandon Tennis, Michele Carlson, Marie Macchiarolo; kneeling, Allison Ruschp, Emily Berg, Nelle Ward, Emily Davis, Elizabeth Kelly, Rodrigo Posada, Willa Caughey

‘ Read keynote speaker John Todd’s remarks on page 8.

//2015// con'text 19

protect water supplies, consider the nation’s coastlines, envision healthy tree cover and greenspace, and ensure cities can support a growing popula-tion and prepare for the future.

Professor of humanities Ken Byrne encouraged the graduates to dig deeper, go wider, and cultivate

hope in an address titled “Turtles, All the Way Down.” Illustrating his first point, he highlighted the temptation to look for a fundamental cause

that lies at the bottom of a problem. It often appears in a form such as, “In the end it’s all about money. In the end it’s all about education.” The students’ teachers have encouraged this thinking to some degree by pushing them to dig deeper, go under the surface, peel back the layers, and then go even deeper.

Ken pointed out that the logical con-clusion to this search for a profound explanation “would lead you to believe that there is a foundation down there, a base, and everything else is built on top of it.” He refuted that logic with an old

story of the structure of the universe that states, “The earth sits on the back of a huge elephant.” But that explanation is challenged:

“‘But what’s under the elephant?’ they were asked. ‘A large turtle.’‘But what’s under the turtle?’‘It’s turtles all the way down.’

“It is important to look for the turtles. But not the last one. And not being able to get to the end of the story doesn’t mean you have permission to stop reading. But it does mean: It may not matter where you jump in. So pick your entry point and go.”

With an image of rich and productive swamps, Ken encouraged the graduates to go wider. The pleasant chore of kin-dling a fire on a cold morning as a meta-phor for hope rounded out the talk.

In a Conway tradition, the grad-uates presented one another their degrees, taking the opportunity to share stories about each recipient with those in attendance. After ten months together in the studio, classroom, and field, working closely on challenging projects, it’s clear that they know one another very well—and that they truly respect one another.

Congratulations, graduates!

Special thanks to generous alums and friends who donated photography skills (Amy Nyman ’13), hosting acumen (open house hosts David Holden ’76 and his wife Marcia Holden), and beautifully arranged flowers (Elaine Williamson ’11). Commencement was better-documented, more welcoming, and more beautiful for your contributions.

/ GRADUATION /

Below, bottom center: Betty Fitzgerald (with son Greg), who with her late husband Don rented an apartment to Conway students for more than 25 years, was honored during graduation. Alums from all over the world contributed photos and memories from their time at the Fitzgeralds’ home in Ashfield. PHOTOS: AMY NYMAN ’13.

‘Read Ken’s complete remarks: csld.edu/ graduation


PerspectivesWork of a Conway Graduate

John Hanning ’82 and the Aerial Point of View

PHOTO: JOHN HANNING ’82

“ I have found the unique aerial perspective that

drones provide can be useful for all phases of

developing a project. From initial site analysis

through post-construction documentation, drones

can capture actual site conditions on private

property in real time, without being hindered by

cloud cover, terrain or scheduling restrictions.

Also, drone video has an immediacy and user

accessibility that cannot be matched by computer

graphics simulation or conventional aerial

photography.” —JOHN HANNING

When commercial use of drones becomes legal in the United States, one person who will be ready to fly these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for peaceful applications, such as planning, design, and natural resource monitoring, will be John Hanning.

John Hanning (seen at left in photo) is the CEO of Archimedes Aerospace LLC, which conducts NASA-funded research with unmanned aerial vehicles on agricultural and ocean science topics. The image on this page is of Brown’s Trace River in Vermont. John explains, “The riverside oblique angle was shot using a nadir view GoPro3 camera at about 350 feet above ground level at a 30 degree bank angle of the fixed wing airframe. Aerial obliques are a good way to show the depth of stream buffer vegetation.”

//2015// con'text 21

Conway CurrentsNews of and from the School

TRUSTEES UPDATE

In fall 2014, the board of trustees welcomed three new members. Janet Curtis ’00 is Senior Foundations Officer at the Union for Concerned Scientists Climate Program. Her work has tra-versed a range of sustainability and public policy areas from land conserva-tion to smart growth and climate change action planning. She brings expertise in communications, program marketing, fund development, project manage-ment, government relations, and diverse stakeholder engagement. Stephen Thor Johnson founded Sage Advisors, which specializes in the design and manage-ment of complex conservation trans-actions and the associated planning, financial, and policy issues. Previously, he served as executive director for two regional land trusts for over 15 years and served as the state’s director of land pol-icy. Susan Rosenberg ’95 is a founding board member of Canopy, a nonprofit organization in northern California whose mission is to educate, inspire, and engage residents, businesses, and

government agencies to protect and enhance local urban forests.

After a combined thirty-five years on Conway’s board, three members stepped down this year.

Al Rossiter served on Conway’s board for 13 years, and was vice chair for the last three. A retired English teacher, Al was the first parent of a Conway graduate (Selina Rossiter ’02) to serve. At his last meeting, board chair Ginny Sullivan ’86 presented Al with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Conway community, which reads, in part, “You have supported and nurtured the growth of the Conway School as par-ent, donor, advisor, cheerleader, critic, and trustee, shepherding its growth from a local to a regional and now international voice in designing holistic solutions to global issues at every scale, through both education and practice.”

Jack Barclay also contributed 13 years of service to Conway’s board. Jack, who was the first director of the University of Connecticut’s Wildlife Conservation Research Center was co-chair, with Al Rossiter, of

the Academic Committee, and also served on the David Bird Fellowship Committee. He was a strong proponent of focusing the academic program on ecology and taking advantage of oppor-tunities to use the campus as a learning environment.

During Conway’s transition from its original site to the hilltop campus in Conway, Al and Jack both helped to secure a strong financial footing for the school. Both assisted with Conway’s self-studies for accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and helped to hire Paul Hellmund as Conway’s third director.

Nicholas Lasoff ’05 joined Conway’s board in 2006, a year after he began as editor of this publication. We are fortunate that though he has stepped down from the board, Nick continues as con’text’s editor. As a former college pro-fessor, Nick brought his knowledge of academic institutions to the Committee on Trustees, the Bird Fellowship Committee, and the Academic Committee, where he was instrumental in the design and analysis of surveys.

ON THE ROAD

Celebrating and Planning for Urban Agriculture in MassachusettsPlanning for urban agriculture was the focus of a symposium co-spon-sored by the Conway School and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources in March 2015. The meeting, entitled “Urban Agriculture and Community Planning,” was attended by approximately 150 people interested in all the aspects of producing more food in cities. Director Paul Hellmund facilitated a session on planning issues related to start-ing and sustaining urban agriculture. Marie Machiarollo ’14, Eric DePalo ’16, and Liana Bernt joined Conway’s Administrative Director David Nordstrom ’04 in greeting attendees and telling the Conway story.

Students in the Class of 2015 take notes on the existing urban form in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where Conway master teacher Joel Russell, Executive Director of the Form Based Codes Institute, led a day-long workshop with the help of Chicopee planner Lee Pouliot.


/ CONWAY CURRENTS /

Conway’s Director Joins Other Sustainability Educators at Cooper Union in NYCConway’s Paul Hellmund and other participants were invited to the Cooper Union in New York City in March 2015 to share their experiences in teach-ing sustainable design. “What these educators have accomplished working around the world is truly inspiring,” observed Paul. “And their apprecia-tion of Conway’s approach was very encouraging.” Among other institu-tions represented were the Cooper Union, City University of New York, University of Virginia, Pratt Institute, Buckminster Fuller Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Expeditionary Schools, and the Sustainability Laboratory.

FACULTY UPDATE

Designer and educator Ken Botnick ’79 will join the Conway faculty for its inaugural semester at the new Easthampton campus. The award-win-ning professor, who is on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis and an experienced teacher of design and creativity, will lead the human-ities seminar and consult in the studio on creativity and design thinking. “Ken will bring tremendous energy and insights to Conway, and being a

Conway graduate he appreciates the rigor of design process,” observed Paul Hellmund. Ken is a printer/publisher of limited edition books and a publica-tion designer.

Joining the Conway faculty this year as a Master Teacher in Ecology is John O’Keefe, Senior Investigator at the Harvard Forest, where he is also Museum Coordinator (emeritus). John is a long-time Conway friend. He researches the effect of climate change on the growing season of forests. John serves as an ecology consultant on Conway student projects and for many years has led Conway students on walking tours of Harvard Forest.

PARTNERSHIPS

This year through special partner-ships Conway students are working on projects in Mali, West Africa, and Costa Rica. These international projects add tremendously to the diversity of plan-ning and design issues our students work on. They were arranged by Kate Cairoli ’13 and funded by the Blue Yak Foundation. The work in Mali is focused on food production and infra-structure in two small villages near Kita, in the southwestern part of the country (at considerable distance from the unrest in Mali’s northern Saharan region). Conway’s partner for the work

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Designing for Future Climates: Facilities, Communities, and Economies Resilient to ChangeAUGUST 10, 1 1 , 2015

CONWAY, MASSACHUSETTS

LEAD INSTRUCTORS:

Wendi Goldsmith ’90, Sustainability

Consultant, Founder and former

CEO, Bioengineering Group, Salem,

Massachusetts. Natasha Lamb,

Portfolio Manager, Director of

Equity Research and Shareholder

Engagement, Arjuna Capital,

Boston, Massachusetts.

Addressing climate change often

focuses on public policy related to

greenhouse gas emission controls

and other issues seemingly out of

most peoples’ hands. By focusing

on regulations

rather than the

role of designers

and project own-

ers who shape

the economy’s underpinnings, we

miss opportunities to improve how

buildings, infrastructure, and busi-

ness processes affect and are being

affected by the changing climate.

Workshop participants will

examine practical strategies that

work, and learn how to apply them

more broadly. Questions include:

• How feasible is it to pursue

sustainable and climate-

compatible pathways?

• How can thought leaders from

business, design, and other

relevant fields join forces for

improved results?

• How can we better

integrate resilient options into

our decision-making?

• How can we better account

for the known risks as well as

unknown (or ignored) potential

scenarios?

Ken Botnick ’79 outside Mill 180. Conway’s new Easthampton facility is on the second floor.

For details see: landscape.csld.edu/professional-development

//2015// con'text 23

/ CONWAY CURRENTS /

is the NGO Mali Nyeta, whose leaders have visited Conway twice (see p. 27).

Conway’s partner in Costa Rica is the NGO CIRENAS, which, in the words of its mission statement, “exists to build transformative connections between people and the environment through education, research, integration and innovation.” A two-student team is helping CIRENAS design a network of trails on their beautiful campus, located on one of the last undeveloped stretches of coastline on the Nicoya Peninsula within the Caletas-Ario National Wildlife Refuge.

These two projects are the latest in a series of international efforts, which began in 2007, when four Conway stu-dents worked on ecological restoration on Panama’s Azuero Peninsula.

ALUM UPDATES

Alum NewsYou may have flipped through this issue of con’text and noticed . . . there’s no alum news section! That’s because we will be expanding the alum news and sharing it as a separate digital publica-tion. Submit your news, and let us know what you’d like to see in the expanded publication, at: csld.edu/alum-news

Alum SurveyWe are undergoing our ten-year insti-tutional accreditation review with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). A draft report is due this fall. Your responses to a survey we will share with you this summer will help us complete that review and strengthen our program.

THREE TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREES AT JUNE EVENTS

The board of trustees has voted

to award three Honorary Doctors

in Ecological Design this spring.

JUNE 1, SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

Greg Watson, Director of Policy

and Systems Design, Schumacher

Center for a New Economics

and former Commissioner,

Massachusetts

Department

of Agricultural

Resources, will

receive an hon-

orary doctorate

at his public lec-

ture on Monday,

June 1. His talk, titled “Regional

Food Security: Addressing the

Challenges of Climate Change,”

is part of Conway’s Smaller

Cities, Greener Futures series,

focusing on issues relevant to

small, post-industrial cities.

JUNE 11 , LINCOLN, MASS.

Warren Flint, a conservationist

and farmer who was devoted to

preserving open space in New

England, will receive a posthu-

mous honorary doctorate at a

private event. The degree will be

presented to his widow, Margaret

Flint. If you would like more infor-

mation about this event, contact

Nina Antonetti at (413) 369-4044,

ext. 3 or [email protected].

JUNE 27, CONWAY, MASS.

Dean Cycon, founder of Dean’s

Beans Organic Coffee Company,

will deliver the

keynote address

at Conway’s

43rd graduation

ceremony. Dean,

who started

the company to

model how a business could be a

vehicle for positive social change,

won an Oslo Business for Peace

Award (the “Nobel Prize” of busi-

ness) in 2013.

David Weber ’15 and Kate O’Brien ’15 planning trails on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica for CIRENAS.

mFor more information, see: landscape.csld.edu/commencement -2015

Green Streets Guidebook for the City of Holyoke, a student project produced in the 2014 winter term by Michele Carlson, Willa Caughey, and Nelle Ward, received a 2015 Student Merit Award from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects’ Annual Award Program. Jury members noted the “great application” of Green Streets principles to a real and challenging context, along with effective graphics and organization of the report. Read more about the project on p. 13.

8For more information, see: landscape.csld.edu/smaller-cities-greener-futures


/ CONWAY CURRENTS /

[ conway’s forty-Th ird class : 2015 ]Back row, left to right: David Weber, Cary White, Chris Hendershot, Janice Schmidt, Jeffrey Frisch, Russell Wallack, Aitan Mizrahi, Alex Krofta, Ben Fairbank; front row, left to right: Molly Burhans, Rachel Lindsay, Jordan Clark, Jillian Ferguson, Hillary Collins, Jennie Bergeron, Kate O’Brien, Beth Batchelder

DAVID BIRD INTERNATIONAL

SERVICE FELLOWSHIP 2013–2014

Edible Pathways Project: Tamil Nadu, India

EXCERPTS FROM A REPORT BY ABRAH

JORDAN DRESDALE ’ 10, WHO SPENT

SIX WEEKS IN INDIA AS THE 2013-2014

DAVID BIRD FELLOW. SHE WORKED WITH

SADHANA FOREST, AN OFF-THE GRID

VOLUNTEER-RUN COMMUNITY FOCUSED

ON RE-FORESTATION AND WATER

CONSERVATION EFFORTS, TO INSTALL

EDIBLE PATHWAYS.

The final design demonstrated diverse

soil building and irrigation techniques.

Composted food scraps, humanure, and

mulch began to build the organic matter

of the desiccated soil. Pebble Garden,

a nearby homestead started on pebble

soil, regenerated its 20 acres with Acacia

dealbata (silver acacia) trees and a local

recipe for lasagna gardening. The lasagna

layers mimicked termites’ process of soil

building. Water-soaked acacia leaves lay-

ered with charcoal and termite droppings

created a lasagna bed for direct sowing.

A banana circle (locally referred to as a

“sponge”) contained woody biomass for

soaking up grey water for

slow, passive irrigation in

a basin ringed by banana

trees, taro, and lemongrass.

Over time, soil builds up

inside the “sponge.” The

installation team also bor-

rowed a technology developed at Sadhana

Forest. Cotton wicks threaded through

two-liter plastic water bottles provided

slow drip irrigation for the woody cuttings

of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (chaya) and

Moringa oleifera (moringa) in their first

months of establishment. The cuttings

were then planted in a mound of finished

humanure mixed with native soil.

Together, my team and I cleared

overgrown vegetation and laid down a

new blanket of mulch, seeds, transplants,

banana circles, and infrastructure for

recreation and growing food. Not only was

the landscape transformed that day, but I

believe we all were, as well.

¦Read the rest of Abrah’s story, and see her report, at: csld.edu/alums/bird

Abrah Dresdale (at right) is using the “sponge technique” to build soil at Sadhana Forest.

//2015// con'text 25

Conway is experiencing unprecedented levels of giving from an expanding community of supporters

Thanks to your generosity, the

number of gifts that support Conway’s

work in the world over the past fiscal

year has increased by over 60 percent.

This growth in giving has enabled the

school to improve its facilities, fortify

its resources, keep tuition level for fall

2015 for the fifth consecutive year,

and offer more student grants than

ever before. Thanks to this renewal

and growth, Conway can increase its

effectiveness and extend the reach of

its work to make a larger difference in

the world. And now there will be not

one but two campuses disseminating

the “Conway way.”

Founder of the Conway School, Walt

Cudnohufsky, recently wrote, “The

possibility of assisting and watch-

ing this renewal or rebirth [of The

Conway School] is personally exciting!”

Contribute to Conway by volunteering,

recruiting an applicant, introducing us to

a potential client, sponsoring a project,

hosting a regional event, or naming the

school in your estate planning. Ask your

employer to match your gift. Entice a

classmate to give. Give in someone’s

honor. Consider giving twice or quar-

terly. Establish a monthly recurring gift

online, which is the most affordable way

to give more and most often.

Please join the movement today

if you haven’t

already sent your

annual gift. It’s

never too late to

join the alums,

clients, founda-

tions, friends, and

parents who have

invested in Conway’s transformation. By

giving today, you become integral to the

institution that John Todd describes as “the

first . . . to have the foresight and courage

to understand the integrative power of

ecological design and its ability to help

solve the energy, food, environmental,

and infrastructural crises that the world

faces.” (Founder, John Todd Ecological

Design, Ocean Arks International, and New

Alchemy Institute, speaking at the Conway

School on June 28, 2014.)

Thank you for supporting tomorrow’s

ecological designers today.

Most appreciatively,

NINA ANTONETTIDirector of Advancement

and Strategic Initiatives

Annual ReportFiscal year 2014

CONWAY COMMUNITY RAISES THE BAR

PHOTO: PAMELA COBB

Fiscal year 2011Total: $88k




= UNRESTRICTED

= RESTRICTED

$69k

$76k

$68k

$80k $225k

$35k

$13k

$19k

Giving to the Conway School has increased more than threefold over the last four fiscal years. Help Conway continue on this upward trajectory by investing in two campuses, edu-cating two cohorts of students, and support-ing more community-based and international projects. The world needs Conway-educated designers more than ever before. Please help raise the bar even higher in 2015.


/ ANNUAL REPORT /

100% PARTICIPATION BY BOARD, STAFF, CLASS OF ‘14! The 2014 Annual Report includes gifts made to the Conway School from

July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014. We make every effort to ensure its accuracy and ask you to bring any errors or omissions to our

attention. Contact Nina Antonetti, Director of Advancement + Strategic Initiatives, (413) 369-4044 ext. 3 or [email protected].

DONORS TO THE 2013–2014 ANNUAL FUND

Susanna Adams ’78Jennifer Allcock ’89Richard C. AndrioleAnonymous (3)Mitch AnthonyNina & Martin AntonettiGeorge S. Anzuoni P’88, in memory

of Helen C. Anzuoni ’88Christine & Matthew Arnsberger ’98Henry Warren ArtGary Bachman ’84John BarbourEmily Berg ’14Rachel Bird AndersonKen Botnick ’79 & Karen WernerJ. M. BouwkampTerrence BoyleNancy BraxtonJoey BrodeLarissa Brown ’94Richard K. Brown & Anita Loose

BrownDavid Buchanan ’00Trevor Buckley ’14Ralph A. Caputo P’87Michele Carlson ’14Willa Caughey ’14Michael Cavanagh ’02Charles Sumner Bird Charitable

FoundationMadeleine Charney ’03Joshua Clague ’04Katherine Lee ColeArthur Collins II ’79, P’15Mrs. Joan Merrill Collins P’79, GP’15Community Foundation of Western

MassachusettsJill Ker ConwayCarla Manene Cooke ’92, in honor of

Walt Cudnohufsky, Donald Walker, and the class of ‘92

Clémence Corriveau ’02David Cox ’76Walter Cudnohufsky AssociatesKerri Culhane ’10Janet Curtis ’00Adrian DahlinD. Alex Damman ’95Esther L. Danielson ’94Anya Darrow ’99Emily Davis ’14Jeffrey Dawson ’14Harry DodsonDonna Eldridge ’86Jon and Barbara Elkow P’92Abigail Elwood ’14Kim Erslev

Hasso Ewing P’14Lila Fendrick ’79June E. FitzgeraldCarol FranklinJesse Froehlich ’08Katharine Gehron ’09 & Jonathan

Cooper ’09Mary GottschalkAsheley GriffithJohn Hamilton ’82John HamsonGallagher Kelley Hannan ’14James S. HardiggNancy HazardCarl Heide ’00Joan & Paul Cawood HellmundHoward P. Colhoun Family

FoundationIBM CorporationFaith Ingulsrud ’82Christian Johnson ’14Erik Johnson ’09Elizabeth Kelly ’14Cynthia Knauf ’89Kathleen Hogan Knisely ’76Nancy Knox ’85Claudia Kopkowski ’88Edward Landau ’90Barbara B. & Nicholas T. Lasoff ’05Charles LeopoldJohn C. Lepore ’11Ahron Lerman ’11Marie Macchiarolo ’14Barbara Mackey ’88Anne Capra Madocks ’00 & John

MadocksCarrie Makover ’86Mary A. & Thomas F. Grasselli

Endowment FoundationAnn Georgia McCaffray ’78Heather McCargo ’84Sierra McCartney ’13Karen MerrillRobert J. & Gladys T. Miner P’07Melody & William Montgomery ’91Andrea Morgante ’76Darrel G. MorrisonGlenn MotzkinJames C. Mourkas P’94Melissa Mourkas ’94David Nordstrom ’04Adam & Priscilla Novitt ’07John O’KeefeCarla OleskaRoger Plourde ’97Julia Plumb ’96Rodrigo Posada ’14

Robert PuraWalter & Linda ReynoldsAlan Rice Christopher I. Rice ’95Sally & William Richter ’77David & Catherine Rioux ’98Dolores Root P’10Susan Rosenberg ’95Keith Ross & Louise DoudAllen and Selina Rossiter P’02Selina Wood Rossiter ’02 and

Alexander ColhounClarissa Rowe ’74Allison Ruschp ’14Joel RussellJohn Saveson ’92Aaron Schlechter ’01Schwab Charitable FundJohn W. SearsTeodoro Livio Senni ’14Gordon H. Shaw ’89Silicon Valley Community

FoundationAngela Sisson ’04Robert Small ’93Dorothy SmithKimberly Smith ’13Bruce Stedman ’78Mrs. Richard D. Sullivan P’86Virginia Sullivan ’86Robert E. SwainCindy Tavernise ’99Brandon Tennis ’14Floyd A. Thompson ’74Lydia McIntire Thomson ’80Janna Thompson ’06Judith F. Thompson ’99Michael Thornton ’86Kate Tompkins ’11Ross TompkinsLinda & Timothy A. UmbachMrs. M.E. Van Buren P’82Peter Van Buren ’82 & Susan Van

Buren ’82Elizabeth Vizza ’82Nelle Ward ’14George Watkins ’77Barbara Young & Eric Weber ’77, P’15Jenna Webster ’09Frederick and Peg Reid Weiss ’79Robin WilkersonJudy & Bob Wilkinson P’99Seth Wilkinson ’99Abe Zimmerman and Evonne

Atlas, P’13

Gifts-in-KindEugene BernatJohn BisbingNicholas T. Lasoff ’05Virginia Sullivan ’86

DONORS TO RESTRICTED FUNDS

AnonymousNina AntonettiMary Quigley & Mollie Babize ’84Blue Yak FoundationJ. M. BouwkampCharles Sumner Bird Charitable

FoundationJoan & Paul Cawood HellmundDavid Holden ’76Annice Kenan ’97 & Jesse SmithClaudia Kopkowski ’88Lauri KrouseBarbara & Nicholas T. Lasoff ‘05Dorothea PiranianRandleigh Foundation TrustSusan Rosenberg ’95Keith Ross & Louise DoudAllen & Selina Rossiter P’02Pamela & David SandBarbara Sargent ’79 & Tom

Sargent ‘79Virginia Sullivan ’86David & Betsy Zahniser

The Legacy CircleThe Legacy Circle recognizes alums and friends who have made bequests or life income gifts to the Conway School. Their commitment, generosity, and leadership ensure the future of the school for years to come. We thank them publically and encourage other members of our community to follow their lead.AnonymousJennifer Allcock ’89Martin & Nina AntonettiJ. M. BouwkampRichard K. BrownSusan Crimmins ’97William GundermannJoan & Paul Cawood HellmundCarrie Makover ’86Virginia Sullivan ’86 & Brown

Williams

P=PARENT G= GRANDPARENT

//2015// con’text 27

/ ANNUAL REPORT /

Student Grants Fund:Make the difference“I support the Conway Student Grants Fund to get the most highly motivated and capable students into the program. Grants can make the difference in a student enrolling in the Conway School or going to another program.” —Susan Rosenberg ’95, Conway School trustee

Help educate a Conway student, and you

send another ecological designer like

Brandon Tennis ’14 to make a real differ-

ence in the world: “The student grant that I received was an important incentive and, financially, a big help. As of the new year I have begun employment with the Watershed Agricultural Council in Walton, New York, as a conservation easement stewardship specialist . . . The organization provides important and rather innovative agriculture programs and land trust incen-tives to rural communities in the Catskills in order to protect New York City’s unfil-tered, surface water drinking water. My job allows me to work in conservation and agriculture with a strong focus on resource protection.” —Brandon Tennis ’14

Brandon Tennis ’14, a recipient of a student grant while at Conway, is now working as a Land Conservation Stewardship Specialist with the Watershed Agricultural Council, a public-private partnership that provides clean drinking water for nine million New Yorkers. Above, Brandon with his wife Abby at graduation. PHOTO: AMY NYMAN ’13

/ ANNUAL REPORT /

Student Projects: Contribute to sustainable goodHelp orchestrate or fund a project, and

you help improve a site, a neighborhood,

or a region—even as far away as Mali, West

Africa: “One of the greatest challenges for any economic development effort is to contribute to sustainable good. Conway students will bring an unusual capacity to listen carefully to the villagers of the commune of Benkadi Founiya—the villages of Djangoula Kita and Djangoula Foulala within this commune, to start with. Such careful listening will lead to well-de-signed contributions to enduring benefits, whether in the realm of water resources management, sustainable agricultural practices, or conscientious land-use planning. We of Mali Nyeta are so deeply pleased and honored to be embark-ing on this adventure with The Conway School students and staff.” —Jinny St. Goar, US Project Director, Mali Nyeta, The Foundation for Education in Mali

Class Gift: The importance of giving backSupport your alma mater and you

enhance Conway’s offerings at two

campuses for two cohorts of students

working on many more projects: “In many ways we are the gateway class for The Conway School, bridging the founding fundamentals from Walt Cudnohufsky with our urban modern realities; as the first class to receive Conway’s new degree we wanted to (re)start some traditions. Our class gift was an Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance,’ which is a versatile hybrid shrub or small tree that now welcomes visitors near the (new) main entrance. This shrub has many common names—one is Juneberry, because of the month it bears fruit, coinciding with graduation.” —Jeffrey Dawson ’14

a

Madame Bintou Sissoko, Founder, Chair of the Board, and Executive Director of Mali Nyeta, at right, enjoys lunch and conversation with Carol Franklin, founder of Andropogon Associates and Conway School board member at Conway’s fall board meeting in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Members of the Class of 2014 planted their class gift, an Amelanchier x grandiflora, near the school’s (recently renovated) entryway. The shrub, which is beginning to bud as we go to print, was given in addition to a 100% class participation in the Annual Fund.

1 + 1 > 2: SUPPORTERS OF THE CONWAY SCHOOL DISCOVER THEIR GIFTS HAVE EXPONENTIAL VALUE.

//2015// con'text 27


/ ANNUAL REPORT /

STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2014(with comparative totals for June 30, 2013)

FY 2014 FY 2013

Unrestricted Temp. Restricted TOTAL TOTAL

ASSETS

Cash and cash equivalents 65,793 132,998 198,791 175,243

Accounts receivable 40,296 40,296 30,610

Prepaid expenses 5,591 5,591 4,396

Property and equipment, net 573,990 573,990 605,524

Investments 510,751 510,751 430,704

Other assets 40,328 40,328 40,667

Total Assets 1,236,749 132,998 1,369,747 1,287,144

LIABILITIES

Current liabilities 59,784 59,784 55,139

Mortgage note payable, long term portion 124,060 124,060 130,919

Total Liabilities 183,844 183,844 186,058

NET ASSETS

Unrestricted Board designated 152,619 152,619 87,233

Undesignated 900,286 900,286 895,038

Total unrestricted net assets 1,052,905 1,052,905 982,271

Temporarily restricted 132,998 132,998 118,815

Total Net Assets 1,052,905 132,998 1,185,903 1,101,086

Total Liabilities + Net Assets 1,236,749 132,998 1,369,747 1,287,144

REVENUES, GAINS, AND OTHER SUPPORTS

Contributions 80,735 213,450 294,185 104,594

In-kind contributions 1,785 1,785 7,666

Tuition and fees 470,500 470,500 542,525

Project reimbursement 80,423 80,423 81,753

Alumni reunion event - - 17,684

Investment income 20,912 20,912 13,289

Miscellaneous income 715 715 235

Net assets released from restrictions 199,267 (199,267)

Total Revenues, Gains, and other Support 854,337 854,337 854,337 854,337

EXPENSES AND LOSSES

Program Services: School activities 415,483 415,483 455,029

Supporting Activities: Administration 221,670 221,670 210,111 Fundraising 145,878 145,878 85,197

Total Expenses 783,031 783,031 750,337

Loss on disposal of equipment 672 672 1,190

Total Expenses + Losses 783,703 783,703 751,527

Changes in Net Assets 70,634 14,183 84,817 16,219

Net Assets at beginning of year 982,271 118,815 1,101,086 1,084,867

Net Assets at end of year 1,052,905 132,998 1,185,903 1,101,086

Summary of OperationsWe would like to thank all who continue to keep the Conway School financially sustainable through their generous contributions.

The school saw an $85,000 increase in net assets for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. Most of the increase in revenue was attrib-utable to restricted contributions related to Conway’s Sustainable Communities Initiative. These contri-butions allowed the school to hold tuition flat for the third year in a row in fiscal year 2014 while increas-ing need-based tuition grants. In addition, Sustainable Communities Initiative contributions provided the financial support that made it pos-sible for student teams to work on significant projects in post-industrial cities within the Knowledge Corridor.

//2015// con'text 29

Now accepting applications for 2015–2016 in two locations:

Beautiful, wooded Conway — or — Hip, urbanized Easthampton

• Develop whole-systems design thinking• Participate in small classes with great access to faculty• Receive financial aid up to the full cost of attendance• Graduate with a portfolio of professional work

THE CONWAY SCHOOL | CONWAY + EASTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS10-MONTH MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ECOLOGICAL DESIGN

PH

OTO

: DA

VID

BR

OO

KS

AN

DR

EW

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Ecological Design + PlanningA CAREER FOR DESIGNERS AND PLANNERS WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW

Work on real projects and address some of today’s key issues:

• climate destabilization• food + water insecurity• rampant urbanization• species loss

www.csld.edu | Adrian Dahlin, Admissions Director | [email protected]

Nonprofit OrgU.S. Postage

PAIDConway, MA

Permit No. XXXX

the ConwaySchool

Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape Planning + Design

332 South Deerfield Road, PO Box 179Conway, MA 01341

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

con'text magazine 2015

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