Community Outreach Group, Inc.

CONTACT:

14 Buxton Lane
Waltham, MA 02451
781-642-6662
www.cogdesign.org

Lucia Droby, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

COGdesign was founded in 1997 by faculty and recent alumni from the Radcliffe Seminars, to provide pro bono public greenspace and landscape design services to underserved communities and organizations in eastern Massachusetts. In ten years, they have worked on 80 landscape design projects, from small plantings to comprehensive master planning, involving more than 90 designers, in 30 communities from Leominster to Easton, including 23 Boston neighborhoods. Each project involves a community process, site analysis, design concepts, planting plans, cost estimates, and specific recommendations for horticultural maintenance; the communities then take the next steps in fundraising, installing, and maintaining their landscapes. In Jamaica Plain for example, with Boston Parks Department support, they developed a restoration plan for Nira Rock—an Urban Wild area surrounded by dense development. The plan called for removal of invasive plants, opening sight lines, improving circulation, planting native trees, shrubs, and ground cover. They win awards— in 2006 from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Trustees, the Roger Dane Trophy for “outstanding dedication, creativity, and knowledge”; and a Gold Medal for “outstanding service to society"; and in 2007, from the Garden Club of America a Beautification Award for “the important resources you bring to underserved urban communities in the creation of healthy green spaces.”

(2008: NATURE: Environment: Urban Environment)